Saina Nehwal is world No.3

Riding on her Swiss Open victory, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has regain the number three place in the latest world ranking. Saina, who missed a couple of tournaments early in the year because of a nagging ligament injury and then suffered early exits from the Korean Open and the All England Championships, serrated up her first title of the season in Switzerland last week.

The 21-year-old now has 69721.2637 points in her kitty and is currently behind Shixian Wang (83506.4) and Yihan Wang (73988.9106) at one and two respectively. The Swiss Open title was her third Grand Prix Gold title win after Chinese Taipei (2008) and the Indian Open (2010). The girl from Hyderabad also won four Super Series finals in Indonesia (twice), Singapore and Hong Kong over the last two years. In men's singles, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P Kashyap was at the 21st place with 38415.2559 points, while Ajay Jayaram moved to 28th.

Anand Pawar and Arvind Bhat are at 42nd and 45th spot respectively. Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa drop one place to 19th spot, while Jwala and V Diju slipped two spots to 18th in mixed doubles. In men's doubles, Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas jumped seven places to be positioned just outside the top 20 bracket at 21st place.

Saina geared up for All England Championship

After making it to the last-four phase in 2010, Saina Nehwal aims to go all the way this year in the All England Badminton Championships. With 5 titles leading up to the first shuttle event, India's brightest badminton star desires to make history by winning the coveted title, a feat no other Indian woman has accomplished..

Prakash Padukone, hailed as the best ever Indian shuttler, has won the World Cup, the Common wealth gold and many more titles. He was even the world No. 1, but the 55-year-old is always remembered for winning the All England title. So is Saina's coach Pullela Gopichand, who is the only other Indian to achieve this amazing honour. Such is the trend for this Super Series premier, which kicks off on Tuesday that sports buffs describe it as the 'Wimbledon of badminton'.

Though she refuses to accept it, Saina has got the best possible draw with Wang Yihan being the only Chinese player in her half. The news that Yihan had injured her knee tendon would only bolster Saina's chances. The cross-border rivals are likely to meet in the quarters. If Wang opts out and with defending champion Tine Baun of Denmark pulling out due to a heel injury, Saina's first big test could come only in the final.

But the world No. 5 says getting past the first two rounds will be quite tough. Saina will open against Seung Hee Bae of Korea and is likely to face Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the second round. "Bae is very athletic on court. She picks up everything and makes it tough for the opponents. Ying is a classic player with all kinds of strokes. On paper it may appear easy, but for me both are very strong opponents. I have to produce my best to beat them," Saina said.

Saina eyes return to top

Saina Nehwal will begin her 2011 spell participating in the All England Badminton Championship in Birmingham next month as she is returning to the courts following an ankle injury.“I need four weeks to make a return so I won’t be participating in any occasion before the All England championships. I am looking forward to the All England and then the Swiss Open to start with,” she said at the sidelines of a coaching clinic that she conducted in the city on Sunday. In the All England Championships that will be held from March 8-13, she will be rutted against the best in the world with top Chinese rivals.

Though Saina’s position curved in from two to five, she still had a great 2010 winning three successive super series and Common wealth Games gold last year. She is raring to go after her dream run was blocked by an ankle injury. “I was not fully fit in the Korean Open. I missed five weeks of training and had just one week to carry out. I will take some more time to be fully fit,” added the 21-year-old Hyderabadi. “2011 is a crucial year for me and my focus will be to win as many tournaments as possible. Another major event I am targeting is the world championship in August,” she added.

Talking about the clinic that she conducted for kids, she said that she started very late, at nine years, and that she feels that kids should be introduced to any sport when they are three or four. “I started when I was nine, but I feel that three otherwise four is the ideal age. Nobody believes that I performed so well in such a short period of time. But I guess I am lucky,” she added.saina roots for india at world cup. With the World Cup fever catching on and the people of the nation just waiting for the mega cricketing show to start, like any Indian, even Saina Nehwal is hoping that the India win the World Cup this time.

Saina geared up for Korean challenge

Saina Nehwal does not consider in living in the past. The world No.4, who had a remarkable season in 2010 winning three Super Series titles and the Common wealth Games gold, said that the fresh term offers new challenges and the past will be of no help in a competitive sport like badminton. The ace shuttler, who will begin the season with the newly upgraded $1.2 million Korea Open Super Series Premier, arrived in Seoul on Sunday and will start her campaign against Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei in the first round on Wednesday. Tzu, who is ranked 21 in the world, had lost to Saina in the final of the Singapore Open Super Series last June.

Next up for Saina would be Sayaka Sato of Japan. Incidentally, Sayaka too had lost to Saina in the final of the Indonesia Super Series, a week after Saina beat Tzu in the Singapore Super Series final. The Indian is ready to meet the rivals she beat a few months ago. "They are very tough opponents. Moreover, I am coming back from an injury. I don't know how my body will respond to these challenges. Though I had a huge season last year, it's history now. I have to start afresh again and all the players will be eager to start the season on a high note. So it's not going to be easy,'' Saina said.

If she clears the initial rounds Saina will run into Asian Games champion Shixian Wang in the quarters. Shixian, who beat Saina at the World Championships and lost to her at the Hong Kong Super Series will be keen to avenge her defeat. The 20-year-old Chinese girl, claimed the No.1 rank last week but slipped to second this week."I am not thinking too much about any player now. I know in big tournaments like this I have to give my best on all five days of the tournament,'' Saina said.Parupalli Kashyap, the only Indian in men's singles will face Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in the first round.

The mixed doubles pair of Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta may find it tough against former world champion Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork of England in the first round. It would be no different for Jwala and Ashwini Ponnapa in the women's doubles as they are drawn against Tsk Ka Chan and Hol Wah Chau of Hong Kong. The main event begins on Wednesday after the qualifiers on Tuesday. Korea Open is the first of a new series started by the Badminton World Federation. Five of the 12 Super Series events have been upgraded to Super Series Premier events from this year opening with the Korea Open.

Saina makes 2010 a year to memorize for Indian badminton

Saina Nehwal nonstop her giant strides, breaking through the 'Great Wall of China' with five international titles to become the world number two as Indian badminton rode on her success to rise in outline in a highly successful 2010. After a highly promising last year during which she won the Indonesian title, Saina proved once again why she is the brightest star in Indian badminton as she went several steps ahead this year.The Hyderabadi became the first female Indian shuttler to win three back-to-back titles when she clinched the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold, Singapore Super Series and defended the Indonesian Open in June. But the icing on the cake came in October when the 20-year-old won the Common wealth Games gold medal at the Sri Fort Complex.

She didn't stop there and her insatiable hunger for success guided her to a third Super Series title when she won the Hong Kong Open last month to wipe out the dissatisfaction of losing in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games. Twin honours at the national level added to her aura as she was conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Padma Shri awards."It has been nothing less than a dream year for me because even though I played in just five super series events out of 12 Super Series, I won three of them and it is a great feeling.Common wealth Games and Asian Games were main this year and I won the gold in Delhi, which was also a memorable moment. I also received the Padma Shri and Khel Ratna award.

What else can a player wish for," said Saina. National coach and her mentor Pullela Gopichand also said that it has been a remarkable year for Saina. "I has been a remarkable year for Saina. She has been playing like a winner and won back-to-back tournaments. She missed many Super Series events or else she could have been number one by this year end but that is not the priority, winning more tournaments is. Saina has been managing pressure pretty well," Gopichand said. If Saina nonstop her giant strides, this year had a new star in men's singles.Even as established names such as Chetan Anand and Arvind Bhat struggled with injuries and poor form, P Kashyap increased his fan base when he won the Common wealth Games bronze medal.