Saina Nehwal breaks into World Top 10

Safin

Close on the heels of her triumph at the chinese open: http://www.funenclave.com/other-spor...pen-22008.html, Saina is displaying awesome form in the Chinese Masters to defeat the world Champion in badminton in her home turf.

Gritty Saina cruises into Chinese Masters semis- Hindustan Times

laying in China against a local opponent can trigger a nervous breakdown for someone not used to a hostile crowd. But then Saina Nehwal has proved time and again that pressure spurs her on.

On Friday, the 18-year-old not only battled the situation with grit but also overpowered world champion and third seed Zhu Lin 21-16, 21-23, 21-18 in just under an hour to reach the semifinals of the China Masters Super Series in Changzhou.

The seventh seed, who won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix gold tournament a fortnight ago, will now take on Hong Kong's Zhou Mi in the last four stage. The sixth seed had earlier upset top seed Lu Lan 10-21, 21-13, 21-14 in the other quarterfinal.

"I was aware that she was fresh. But after initial exchanges, I began catching her deep on her backhand and that gave me the advantage in the first game," Saina told HT over the phone.

"The bigger challenge was to get distracted with the 4,000 odd crowd supporting her and barring one occasion I guess I handled it well," said the Hyderabadi, who is without a travelling coach for this tournament.

Saina

Ninja

Way to go saina

Too bad these matches aren't covered

Safin

Just heard

Saina has lost in the semi's

But a nice run never the less

I am sure she will get better as she plays more.

Ninja

^ Yeah she was beaten comprehensively by the sixth seed 4-21, 19-21 i think

But she is a wonder kid, i hope this is just the beginning

Bluffmaster

Congratulations Saina

Dammit

Nice to see some other game players are emerging in India, Other than cricket..

Agnel

She is a great talent

I still remember the night we three(ninja, safin and I) were discussing on SB as her QF match was on. Lets hope she does well.

champu

Congrats Saina.. u made us proud

Safin

Great news today.
Our Saina has broken into world top 10 in badmintons singles rankings

Saina became the first Indian woman to achieve this feat under the new world rankings. She is just 18 years old

“At the start of the year, my goal was to be ranked in the top 25 of the world. But after the way things went, I re-set my target to break into the top 10. I am really glad that I could achieve that also,” she explained in a chat with The Hindu.

“Each event is a learning experience. Now I am more confident of beating the top players in the world,” said the BPCL officer.

“The advantage of being in the top 10 is that now I should be able to get good draws in the big events. However, there is always a scope for improvement. Though I am an improved player, the process of improvement is eternal. Or else you know these girls (Chinese and Indonesians) would easily catch up with you,” Saina said.

“I am not sure how the next year would be. But, I will not be found wanting in terms of training and commitment. I will be aiming at a special performance in the next year’s All England championship and the World Championships (to be held in Hyderabad).”

She said that she still has to work on her defence. “Or else they (opponents) are bound to get the better of me on my backhand.”

Ninja

Way to go Saina