Isn't Anand Pawar the one who used to train in Indo? I remember that there was an Indian junior player (forget his name) who trained in the sport club near my house and the guy in that picture looks familiar to me... He can speak a little bit Indonesian , I heard him speaking with my coach in some kind of funny accent...
Yes the one on the left in the last pic.He's a talented and a nice player to watch.Unfortunately Age is against him.
Yes, he was partnering V. Diju and I thought they were good. Sorry the pic was a bit small, maybe the following enlargement helps:
That's an 'A' and it stands for Ashaway,which is a manufacturer of racket and shuttles.You guys never heard of it?I dont think it's an Indian Company.
All the Papers are aldready flooded with comparisons between Saina and Sania[Both from the same city Hyderabad]- Saina, the rising star Press Trust of India NEW DELHI, Oct. 24. — Be sure, there is no spelling mistake in the headline. We are not taking about Sania Mirza, but a new star on Indian sports horizon — shuttler Saina Nehwal. This Hyderabadi teenager is already dreaming of winning an Olympic gold. The-15-year-old created a sensation in the badminton fraternity when she pulled off an upset victory against reigning and eight-time national champion Aparna Popat in straight games in the final of the Asian Satellite championship here yesterday. The win was not totally unexpected as Saina has been giving enough indication of her calibre in recent times. But the fact that she won an international senior title in only her third appearance and beat Aparna Popat in their third meeting, shows the energy level of a young girl waiting to explode. “It is the best moment of my life. This is the first time that I have beaten her (Aparna). She has been the world number 27 and a victory against her is a great feeling,” an ecstatic Saina said. But Saina was modest to admit that Aparna was not at her best and she needed to improve on her game to play well consistently at the top level. “Aparna was not playing well and making lot of mistakes and it gave me an advantage in the final. I need to improve my speed and stamina,” said the girl. For almost eight years, women’s badminton has been synonymous with Aparna Popat, who, being a notch above her peers, has held fort unchallenged. But few would have put their money on a 15-year-old to take the mantle from Aparna. As a true champion, Saina is unwilling to rest on her laurels and has already set her goals. “This year I want to win all the three nationals — under 16, under 19 and the seniors.”
A Saina storms Indian badminton October 24, 2005 20:28 IST This Hyderabadi girl is hardly 15, but she is already dreaming of winning an Olympic gold. No, we are not taking about Sania Mirza, but a new star on the Indian sports horizon. She is shuttler Saina Nehwal. The 15-year-old created a sensation in badminton circles when she pulled of an upset victory over reigning and eight-time national champion Aparna Popat in the final of the Asian Satellite Championship in Delhi on Sunday. The win wasn't totally unexpected as Saina had already provided enough indication of her calibre in recent times. But the fact that she won an international senior title in only her third appearance and beat Popat in their third meeting -- the last being the national championship final, which Aparna won in stright games, -- shows the energy level of a young girl waiting to explode. "It is the best moment of my life. This is the first time that I have beaten her (Aparna). She has been the world number 27 and a victory against her is a great feeling," an ecstatic Saina said. But Saina was modest to admit that Aparna was not at her best and she needs to improve on her game to play well consistently at the top level. "Aparna was not playing well and making lot of mistakes and it gave me an advantage in the final. I need to improve my speed and stamina," said the teenager, who hails from the same city as tennis star Sania Mirza. For almost eight years, women's badminton has been synonymous with Aparna Popat, who is a notch above her peers. But few would have bet on a 15-year-old to take the mantle from the seasoned Aparna. As a true champion, Saina is unwilling to rest on her laurels and has already set her goals. "This year I want to win all the three nationals – under-16, under-19 and the seniors. I have already won the under-16 and now I want to win the other two," said a confident-sounding Saina, who trains under two of the finest Indian shuttlers -- Pulella Gopichand and Mohammed Arif in Hyderabad. Ask her about her dream and pat comes the reply from the Junior national champion: "I want to win an Olympic gold for India. "I am working on my speed and fitness level. I want to play more international tournaments so that I can play against good players and gain experience and also improve my ranking." So, do we have another Sania in the making? "She (Mirza) is a good player. I would really want to work hard and become like her," quipped the chubby shuttler --------------------------------------------------------------------------The same story can be found in All the newspapers here.Has she created a stir or what.
update on sania Saina eyes top 30 Avishek Roy | April 07, 2006 20:13 IST After her sterling show at the Commonwealth Games, teen sensation Saina Nehwal is confident of breaking into the top 30 of women's badminton singles by the year-end. As for her long-term plans, the 16-year-old wonder girl has carefully charted out her career goals and it includes an Olympic medal. Saina propelled India to a bronze medal victory in the mixed team event in Melbourne and her scalps included big guns like Li Li, the defending champion in women's singles and Tracey Hallam, the silver medallist. Li Li is world number 19 while Hallam is ranked nine. "I performed well at the Commonwealth Games and in the Asian Badminton Championships. I am now trying to reach 30 in world ranking this year," Saina said. "My main aim is to win an Olympic medal for my country," she told PTI over phone from Hyderabad. Saina continues to impress with her ability to pack off players in the top 20 bracket without breaking a sweat. "I was very confident after my good show at the Uber Cup before the Games and I just wanted to play my game. I defeated Tracey Hallam and Li Li in the mixed doubles and that boosted my confidence. "After those victories I was bit disappointed at not having done well in the singles event," said the teenager, currently ranked 96 in the world. Saina's amazing run in the mixed team event started after the coach decided to pass on the singles baton from the seasoned Aparna Popat to her. Saina, it seemed, was waiting to explode on the international stage as she did not concede a game in the event and India went on to upset Singapore and later beat New Zealand in the bronze medal play-off. "I just went there and played my natural game. After I won the first game against Li Li, she was under pressure and I took advantage of that. And it has made me believe in my ability to beat top players." A training stint in China just before the Uber Cup helped improve her game by several notches. "My training in China before the Uber Cup was very important. Practicing there taught me a lot and helped me to improve my game." Trained by Pullela Gopichand, Saina said the former All England Champion had proved to be the best coach and she was not planning to train abroad. She also denied reports that she had got offers from a club in Denmark. "I don't know from where that news came from. I have got no offers and I am happy practicing here. For the next two months I would be training here in Hyderabad and then I will chalk out which are the tournaments to participate," she said. "As of now I want to concentrate on my practice," she signed off.
Friday April 14, 02:08 AM Trupti, the new queen of Indian badminton Aparna Popat’s reign as the queen of Indian badminton may still take a while to end, but already, her position at the top is under threat. First, 17-year-old sensation Saina Nehwal beat her twice last year and now Trupti Murgunde has replaced her as the top-ranked Indian shuttler. According to the latest International Badminton Federation (IBF) rankings released this week, Trupti is ranked at 64, one place up from 65 last week, the first time she had been ranked as the top Indian woman. Aparna, on the other hand, has slipped below Saina as well at 85, with the Hyderabadi teenager one place higher. It’s quite a turnaround in fortunes for the Bangalore-based Trupti, who had been controversially dropped during the Uber Cup qualifiers in Jaipur recently, a decision that probably cost India a place in the finals. Trupti still remembers it with regret. Talking to Newsline, she said: “I beat Singapore’s top player in the Uber Cup qualifiers and now Singapore will be playing in the finals in Japan. The regret is all the more since the Indian men will be there, but not us,” she said. Trupti said the time had come to concentrate on singles. “I will be back on court in a week’s time after getting some treatment on my back. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) is yet to release the calendar and so we really don’t know what tournaments we’ll play. We have the high-profile Singapore, Indonesian and Malaysian Open tournaments in June and I intend to play those to improve my ranking,” she said. Like most Indian sportsmen, Trupti too is on the lookout for sponsors. “The BAI lists about seven tournaments, but we need to play more to move up the rankings. My recent experience of beating four top-20 players in the Uber Cup and the ABC Championships has shown that given the right opportunity, we can beat the best,” she said. In this regard, Trupti, who had a career-high ranking of 50 last year, is targetting a top-30 entry by the end of this year. “If things go according to plan, I will make it into the top-30 or even higher by the end of this year,” she said.
