Saina
scales a new high, 1st Indian woman to World No.1
New Delhi: Saina Nehwal on Saturday scripted history by
becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the number one spot in world
rankings, reaffirming her status as the country's most consistent performer in
the international circuit.
The 25-year-old zoomed to the top after her closest challenger for
the position, Spain's Carolina Marin, lost in the India Open Super Series
semifinal here.
Though
the official rankings will be out only on Thursday next week, Saina has been
assured of her ascent to the top owing to the reigning world champion's 19-21
23-21 20-22 loss to third seed Thai Ratchanok Intanon.
Saina
thus becomes only the second Indian overall to be world number one after
Prakash Padukone had the distinction of being the numero uno men's badminton
player.
Saina
plays Japan's Yui Hashimoto in the second semifinal but the Indian ace will be
No. 1 irrespective of her result today.
The
London Olympic bronze-medallist has won a staggering 14 international titles in
her glorious career and most recently she became the first Indian woman to make
the finals of the prestigious All England Championships in
Manchester.
"Number
one is not at the back of mind right now. The only thing I am focussing on is
playing all the tournaments and I want to win them," Saina had said when
asked about the ranking.
"I
want to perform well and beat the players against whom I was losing. I don't
want to lose the way I was losing in the last three years. I want to be more
consistent. When you are playing well, other things fall in place", she
said.
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