2- Saina Nehwal’s bronze at London Olympics
After the departure of Pullela Gopichand, India was looking for its next superstar in badminton and it was fulfilled by Saina Nehwal when she entered the International fray in 2006. The ace shuttler went onto win many International tournaments including gold in 2010 Commonwealth games.
She continued to grow as a player and was a big hope for every Indian at the London Olympics. On expected terms the Hisar born shuttler went onto play the semi-finals where she lost to China’s Wang Yihan which forced her to play the bronze medal match.
She next faced that time’s world number 2- Xin Wang and the Chinese shuttler won the first set by 18-21. Wang looked in great touch and was all set to take the bronze medal before an injury came in her way and she was forced to retire hurt that gave Nehwal the historic medal.
She became the first Indian shuttler to win an Olympic medal and this achievement meant that badminton got huge recognition and fan power in the country.
Saina inspired many youngsters including PV Sindhu to represent India at the highest level and bring laurels to the country. She still strives for another medal at 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
