Zainab Irshad
17 March marks the birthday of Saina Nehwal and a good moment to follow the path that took a girl from Hisar to the world stage, as she turns 36.
Her family moved to Hyderabad when she was eight and she took up badminton partly because she could not easily make friends in a new city; her father started taking her to the stadium every morning.
Her father has said he used savings and even withdrew from his provident fund to pay for coaching and travel until sponsorship arrived, a detail she later acknowledged with gratitude.
Early success arrived quickly when she became the first Indian to win the World Junior Championship in 2008, a win that announced her on the global junior circuit.
She followed that with the Indonesia Open Super Series title in 2009, the first Super Series win by an Indian woman and a clear sign she could beat top players.
At the 2012 London Olympics she won the bronze medal in women’s singles, a breakthrough moment that raised badminton’s profile across India.
Her rise continued and in April 2015 she reached world number one, the first Indian woman to hold the top ranking in singles.
In 2016 she suffered a significant knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery and long rehabilitation, and she later shared recovery photos and reflections on coming back to win medals again.
Her career also had bumps off court, including a decision to change training bases and coaches in 2014 and then to reunite with her earlier coach in 2017, decisions she has discussed publicly as part of managing form and fitness.