Saina Nehwal is a revolutionary figure in the Indian badminton scenario. Nehwal is a 34 years old professional Indian badminton player.
She has achieved several milestones for Indian badminton. She is the first Indian to win Olympic gold and make an appearance in the World Championships final.
Likewise, in 2015 she reached the number 1 world ranking. In her 12 years of badminton career, Nehwal has already won 24 international titles.
The year 2018 saw huge development in her personal life; marrying her childhood friend Parupalli Kashyap.
Furthermore, her hobbies are sketching, reading books, watching movies, and using gadgets.
I want to be the best, it’s not about the ranking, it’s about being consistent.
Quick Facts
Full Name | Saina Nehwal |
Date of Birth | 17th March 1990 |
Birth Place (Native Place) | Hisar, Harayana, India |
Nick Name | Steff Saina |
Age | 34 years old |
Gender | Female |
Religion | Unknown |
Nationality | Indian |
Ethnicity | Hindu |
Horoscope (Zodiac Sign) | Pisces |
Body Measurement | Unknown |
Height | 5’5″ (1.65m) |
Weight | 65 kgs (143 lb) |
Build | Athletic |
Shoe size | Unavailable |
Hair Colour | Black |
Eye Colour | Black |
Tattoo | No |
Father name | Harvir Singh Nehwal |
Mother name | Usha Nehwal |
Siblings | Abu CHandranshu Nehwal |
Relationship | Married (Parupalli Kashyap) |
Children | No |
Profession | Badminton Player |
Handedness | Right |
Coach | U Vimal Kumar |
Current Ranking | 20th |
Highest Ranking | 1st |
Year Active | 2006-present |
Education | Campus School CCS HAU, Hisar and St.Ann’s College for Women, Hyderabad |
Net Worth | Three cores |
Social media | Instagram, Twitter |
Merch | Badminton Queen of India Saina Nehwal(Biography), Vogue India Magazine(Single Issue Magazine) |
Last Update | October, 2024 |
Saina Nehwal | Early Life & Family
Saina Nehwal, India’s pride, was born on 17th March 1990 in Hisar, Harayana, India. She was born as a younger daughter to Harvir Singh Nehwal and Usha Rani Nehwal.
Nehwal’s father has a Ph.D. degree in agricultural science, and later, he was transferred to Hyderabad.
Since she couldn’t socialize with other children’s due to the language barrier, Nehwal started playing badminton.
At that time, Nehwal was eight years old. Both of her parents used to play badminton for several years. Nehwal’s mother was a Hariyana state player, whereas her father was a university-level player.
Moreover, Nehwal always accompanied her mother to a local club in Hariyana during her childhood.
Nehwal wanted to fulfill her mother’s dream to become a national badminton player. Her father even utilized his provident fund so she could provide Nehwal with good training.
Saina Nehwal traveled 25km to train at 4 am in the Morning.
Her elder sister, Chandranshu Nehwal, was a volleyball player, but she later pursued a modeling career.
During childhood, before badminton, Nehwal played karate; she held a brown belt.
Nehwal mentions her grandmother was disappointed with her birth and didn’t visit her for many months after birth.
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Saina Nehwal | Fitness Regime
Workouts
Lately, Saina Nehwal has struggled with her fitness due to aging and injuries.
Although she was fit, Saina’s fitness didn’t suit badminton specifically. But thanks to her husband, coach, and physio, she began her new innings.
After consulting with Pedra, physio, Nehwal changed her fitness routine. Her new routine revolved around badminton.
Nehwal’s routine is focused on jumping, balance, and directional change.
Moreover, she trains six days a week and rests on the seventh day. Her exercise mainly focuses on strengthening her forearms and legs.
Also, Nehwal’s regular exercise includes a dumbbell pullover to strengthen her chest and back muscles. Likewise, it helps to prevent muscle cramps.
Similarly, she also performs rowing daily to strengthen her shoulder and arms muscles.
Furthermore, practicing military presses helps her to strengthen the muscles of the upper body. It also improves her fitness.
Lastly, Nehwal is a believer in calf/heel raise workouts. She regularly performs this exercise to tone her calf muscles.
Food/Diet Chart
Nehwal considers breakfast an important meal and doesn’t skip it. Generally, she always has eggs for her breakfast. Nehwal strictly focuses on her diet and avoids junk or oily foods.
To prevent unnecessary fat consumption, Nehwal eats boiled and steamed food or salads for lunch and dinner.
Likewise, to keep her muscles strong and fulfill her daily protein dose, Nehwal intakes many meat portions, especially chickens.
Furthermore, she drinks lots of water to keep herself hydrated.
Nehwal believes food and sleep are as important as exercises. Moreover, she sleeps about 6-8 hours, typically going to bed by 11 pm and waking up at 6 am.
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Saina Nehwal | Professional Life
Before Fame
In 2002 Nehwal clinched her first badminton title when she clinched the U-13 Sub-Junior National title. She won the Junior National title in 2004, followed by the senior national title three years later.
Likewise, in 2005 she tasted her first international success after winning Asian Satellite Badminton Championship held in India.
Similarly, in 2006 at the age of 16, she made her World Champion debut but fell to Jiang Yangjioa in its first round.
In the same year, she made it to the Junior World Championship finals but finished runner-up.
In 2008 Nehwal made her Olympic debut, where she reached all the way to the quarterfinals, eventually losing to Kristin Yulianti.
She was also successful in winning the Commonwealth youth championship and the World Junior Championships in 2008.
Major Achievements
In 2009, Nehwal created history by becoming the first Indian badminton player to win BWF Super Series by winning Indonesia Open. To clinch the title, she defeated Wang Lin by 12-21, 21-18, and 21-9.
That year she was also honored with the Arjuna award and a year later with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
In 2010 she successfully defended Indonesia Open, also winning India Open and Singapore Super Series.
Nehwal was also successful in winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal. She defeated Wong Mew Choo 19-21, 23-21, 21-13.
Later in the 2012 Olympics, under Pullela Gopichand, Nehwal created another Indian badminton history. The Haryana-born became the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal after winning a bronze medal.
Fast forward to 2015, Nehwal became again wrote her name in an Indian badminton history book. Saina became the first Indian in history to reach the number 1 ranking and World Championship finals.
By that time, another Indian player PV Sindhu was making a name for herself on the world badminton stage.
Later, in 2016 Nehwal suffered from a series of injuries affecting her in-court performance.
Teaming up with former coach Gopichand she won the 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medal defeating P.V. Sindhu.
Likewise, she claimed bronze in Asian Games the following year after losing to eventual champion Tai Tzu-Ying in the semis.
Awards
- Most Promising Player of the Year (2008) award by the Badminton World Federation
- Arjuna Award (2009)
- Padma Shri (2010)
- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009–2010)
- Padma Bhushan (2016)
Saina Nehwal | Personal Life
Marrying Childhood Love
Saina Nehwal married Parupalli Kashyap in 2018 after being in a relationship for almost a decade. Parupalli is also a professional badminton player who has already represented India in the Olympics.
They first met each other in 1997 from camp. But, only in 2002 did they start meeting each other after training together in Hyderabad.
Later, in 2004 they together joined Pullela Gopichand badminton academy initially after it was founded. The same year, they began dating just before the World Junior Badminton Championship.
However, during practice, they shared a rivalry due to Nehwal’s desire to become the best. Soon their relationship became stronger after they traveled around different countries together for events.
They have been together in every high and low of their careers. In 2018, after injuries dented Nehwal’s progress, Kasyup opted for a new role in her life as a coach.
Both of them are training and working hard together for another medal shot at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Politics
On 29th January 2020, Saina Nehwal, alongside her older sister, joined Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi under Arun Singh, BJP national general secretary.
During the joining ceremony, she stated she was inspired to join due to India prime minister Narendra Modi’s hard work.
After joining the BJP public was angered with Nehwal. However, she promised to contribute to the betterment of India.
Hobbies
After securing the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games, Saina Nehwal revealed her hobbies to the public. She usually spends her time doing her favorite hobby after training.
One of her go-to hobbies is reading books and magazines. She usually reads comics, badminton magazines, and yoga books.
Likewise, Nehwal loves sketching. Nehwal also has represented her school in national sketching competitions. She always carries sketchbooks with her.
During speaking with her biography author, Saina also said she couldn’t live without her gadgets. She also mentions iPhone is her favorite gadget, followed by Handycam.
Usually, she likes playing games such as Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Talking Tom, Sumo Wrestling, and Tennis on her phone.
Similarly, Nehwal is a big fan of Bollywood movies. Her favorite actor is Shah Rukh Khan. Her favorite movie is Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge starred by her favorite actor.
Furthermore, a biopic on Saina named ‘Saina‘ was released in theatres on March 21, 2021. Parineeti Chopra portrays her in the movie.
After marriage, Nehwal said she has a new hobby that is ragging and troubling her husband.
Saina Nehwal | Endorsement and Net Worth
Saina Nehwal may be the first athlete other than a cricketer to enter the big league of endorsement deals.
In 2015, her three years dealt worth 12 core, with Edelweiss, was ranked just behind Dhoni and Virat Kholi at that period.
Yonex has been a sponsor of Nehwal since 2002. Moreover, 4% of Yonex’s profits go to Nehwal too.
Furthermore, Nehwal has also tied deals with Rasna, Herbal Life, Flipkart, Kaira, Bajaj Nomarks, Sahara Group, Iodex, Huawei honor smartphone, Savlon, Kellogg’s, and Indian Overseas Bank.
Other than it, she also represents the brands Emami, Fortune Cooking Oil, Godrej No Marks, NECC, Sahara Group, Star Sports, Top Ramen Noodles, and Vaseline.
Nehwal roughly earns $300,000 per year, whereas her estimated net worth/earning is $ 3million. Talking about her cash award, Saina Nehwal has garnered quite a lot through the games.
For illustration, she has had ₹10 million (US$140,000) from the Haryana Government, ₹5 million (US$70,000) from the Rajasthan Government, and ₹5 million (US$70,000) from the Andhra Pradesh Government.
Likewise, she had received a ₹1 million (US$14,000) cash award from the Badminton Association of India.
With her lavish amount, Saina has her own huge luxury car collection. Some of the brands she owns include Mini Cooper, Mercedes Benz, and BMW.
Guest Appearances
Achieving a huge height, Saina Nehwal has appeared as a guest in numerous shows. Some of the shows include Satyamev Jayate, Comedy Nights with Kapil, The Kapil Sharma Show, and Sam Jam.
At the same time, she published her autobiography in 2012 titled, “Playing to Win: My Life On and Off Court.” Recently, in 2021 a biopic movie titled “Saina” was made based on her life.
The role is played by the actress Parineeti Chopra, and the movie was directed by Amol Gupte.
To honor her, the Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University is named to her name as Saina Nehwal Institute of Agricultural Technology, Training & Education.
Social Media Presence
Being a mobile lover, Nehwal is definitely active on social media platforms too.
She currently has Twitter and Instagram handles. On Twitter, she has 8.5 million followers, whereas 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
Mostly, Nehwal likes to upload photos and videos of her lifestyle matches on her social media.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Shraddha Kapoor leave Saina Nehwal’s biopic?
According to Amole Gupte, Shraddha Kapoor left the movie ‘Saina’ due to the actress’s health issues.
As she was not able to give 100% for the movie role. Later, Parineeti Chopra replaced her role in the movie.
Who is Saina Nehwal’s husband?
Saina Nehwal married her childhood love, Parupalli Kashyap, in 2018. However, they have known each other since 1997 and were in a relationship for more than a decade before tying knots.
What is the net worth of Saina Nehwal? Which racquet does she use?
Saina Nehwal’s net worth is estimated to be $3 million. Furthermore, Nehwal’s salary is about $300,000.
Currently, Saina Nehwal uses Yonex Astrox 99. Well, she has partnered with Yonex throughout the majority of her career.
The racquet she uses is more like a hybrid between the Astrox 88S and the 88D, which was launched in 2018.
Which degree does Saina Nehwal have?
Saina Nehwal is honored with a doctorate degree from Mangalayatan University and by SRM Institute of Science and Technology.
What injury did Saina Nehwal have?
Saina Nehwal initially struggled with a groin injury in October 2021 during her first Thomas and Uber Cup Final match against Spain’s Clara Azurmendi in Denmark.
Following it, she tore her cartilage and had an issue with the patella and meniscus.
Did Saina Nehwal retire?
Though Saina Nehwal has no intention to retire, she has had several injuries along the way, forcing her to leave matches.