Saina Nehwal is an Indian professional badminton player. She was born on 17 March 1990 in Hisar, Haryana. Her zodiac sign is Pisces. She attended Campus School, Hisar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan School, Hyderabad, National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) School, Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad, and St Anne’s College for Women, Hyderabad. 

Her father, Harvir Singh Nehwal, and mother, Usha Nehwal, both are a former badminton players. She has a sister, Abu Chandranshu Nehwal.  

She is married to Parupalli Kashyap. 

Saina Nehwal’s favourites

Her hobbies include travelling and playing sports. 

She likes to eat kiwi and aloo paratha.

Her favourite actor is Shah Rukh Khan. 

Her favourite travelling destination is Singapore. 

Interesting facts about Saina Nehwal

Saina was born in Hisar, Haryana. When she was 5 years old, her family relocated to Hyderabad. 

Both her parents were state-level badminton players from Haryana. 

At the age of 8, Saina started receiving her badminton training under the coach Nani Prasad Rao. She used to travel 50 kilometres every day to reach the badminton academy. 

Later, she joined the famous Gopichand Badminton Academy where her coach was Pullela Gopichand. 

Saina Nehwal’s career turning point was in the year 2006. She emerged as the winner of the Under-19 National Badminton Championship. 

World No 1

Saina Nehwal is the first Indian woman player to rank first in women’s singles event in the Badminton World Federation. 

In the year 2009, the Government of India honoured her with the Arjuna Award. 

In 2010, she won a gold medal in women’s singles event at Commonwealth Games that was held in Delhi, India. 

Padma Shri award

The same year, she was honoured with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Padma Shri Award. 

Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics. 

She holds the title of first Indian player to win Asian Satellite Badminton Tournament twice in a row. 

Saina Nehwal won the World Super Series three times in a row. 

Saina Nehwal is a huge fan of players Sachin Tendulkar and Roger Federer. 

In October 2016, she was appointed as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes Commission.

Clinching gold

Saina Nehwal clinched two gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia, one in the women’s singles event and the other in the mixed event. 

She tied the knot with badminton player Parupalli Kashyap in the year 2018.