Badminton Queen of India Saina Nehwal (19 page)

According to Saina, Sachin is a calm and composed person on the field. She also feels that Sachin is a genius player to boot. His impeccable strength and control is what she admires a lot. One of her greatest moments with the player was when she watched him on TV scoring his 100th century. She was in Switzerland cheering for him, and it was a proud moment for the entire country when he reached that landmark.

Saina feels that it is simply amazing for a human being to have so many achievements to his credit and yet being so humble.

Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Singh Bindra, the successful Indian shooter and World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event was born 28th September, 1982, in Dehradun. Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games after winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It was also India’s first gold medal since 1980, when the Men’s Field Hockey Team won the gold.

Saina admires the spirit of Bindra and his dedication towards the sport. The Hyderabad-based player reveals that she couldn’t sleep the night after shooter Abhinav Bindra had struck gold for India in Beijing 2008. She said that many spectators rushed to give her the good news. The ace shuttler was happy for him but was simply disgusted with herself for having lost in the quarter-finals. That night, she just couldn’t sleep and continuously kept thinking of her game and how she could have played differently. Her respect and admiration for Bindra just doubled to see his undying spirit towards sports.

Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj popularly known as Kapil Dev, was born on 6th January 1959, Chandigarh, Punjab, India. Dev is a former Indian cricketer who captained the Indian cricket team that won the historical 1983 Cricket World Cup. Wisden christened him as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002. Kapil Dev was also India’s national cricket coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000.

Saina Nehwal is a fan of this cricket legend. She feels that the cricketer has given a new dimension to the sport in India and high hopes to young aspirants.

Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams was born on September 26, 1981. She is an American professional tennis player currently ranked No. 1 in women’s singles tennis. The Women’s Tennis Association has ranked her World No. 1 in singles on six separate occasions. In the year 2001, Williams became the World No. 1 for the first time and regained this ranking for the sixth time on February 18, 2013. This made her the oldest World No. 1 player in WTA’s history. She is also renowned as being the only female player to have won over $40 million in prize money.

The sports field has always referred her to as the self-proclaimed, ‘Hardest working woman in tennis’. Williams is the only player to have achieved a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.

The sport star is also regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Saina Nehwal has been a keen watcher of most of her games and adores her for the commitment and hardwork she puts in every game.

Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh, the skilled Indian cricketer was born on 12th December, 1981. He is also the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi movie star Yograj Singh. Yuvraj is a left-hand middle-order batsman and a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He has been a member of the Indian cricket team in ODIs since 2000 and played his first Test match in 2003. Singh also vice-captained the ODI team from late-2007 to late-2008. At the 2007 World Twenty20, he famously hit six sixes in an over against England’s Stuart Broad. This was a feat performed only thrice previously in a senior cricket match, and previously never in an international match between two Test cricket nations.

Saina Nehwal and Yuvraj Singh

Saina is a huge fan of Yuvraj Singh and feels that the sport star is an inspiration for everybody. She is truly inspired by the cricketer’s willpower and inner strength to fight cancer and to be on the verge of again playing for the country. She is stirred by the inspirational story of Yuvraj. The badminton star is in awe of the Singh’s fighting spirit. She is thankful to God for saving him. Saina is also thankful for being supportive in his tweets and words of encouragement and praise he pours in after her tournaments and championships.

Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher, the retired German racing driver is someone Saina truly admires. Born on 3rd January, 1969, Schumacher is a seven-time Formula One World Champion and is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. The German racing driver holds many of Formula One’s driver records. These records including most of the wonderful events of his life such as the fastest laps, championships, pole positions, race victories, pole positions, points scored etc. Another record of Schumacher includes most races won in a single season (13) in the year 2004.

In the year 2002, Schumacher became the only driver in Formula One history to finish in the top three in every race of a season. Thereafter, he also broke the record for most consecutive podium finishes. The F1 driver is ‘Statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen’. This was stated in the official Formula One website.

Vishwanathan Anand

Vishwanathan Anand, the grand chess master was born on 11th December, 1969. This Indian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion is known for his sharp skills and forte to win the game at its hardest level. Anand has won the World Chess Championship five times; 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. The grandmaster has been the undisputed World Champion since 2007. Anand had also won the FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion title in the year 2003. The steady victories of Anand have won him the recognition as the strongest rapid player of his generation. Anand is the lone Grandmaster to win world titles in three formats – he won the 128-player knockout format in Teheran in 2000, the tournament format in Mexico in 2007 and the traditional match-play format last month.

Saina is a fan of this unbeatable grandmaster.

Usain Bolt

Known as Usain St. Leo Bolt OJ CD, Jamaican sprinter was born on 21st August, 1986. He is a widely regarded as the fastest person ever. Bolt is also considered as the first man to hold both the 100 metres as well as 200 metres world records. He set the world record in the 4×100 metres relay. He is the first man to win six Olympic gold medals in sprinting, and a five-time World champion.