World #1 Saina Nehwal vows to work harder at the top

So overwhelmed was Saina by it all that she struggled to express her emotions in words. She kept on saying: "I still can't believe it. I would like to see my name on the rankings list that will be announced next Thursday."

The first Indian woman to be #1 in Badminton is a feat that both Saina and India will cast in history forever.  In the men’s category, Prakash Padukone had held that position 35 years ago. Nehwal was herself ranked at 2 back in 2010 and has been a top-10 player since 2009.

The London Olympic bronze-medalist 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.Saina finally scaled women's badminton summit the moment Carolina Marin of Spain lost her India Open semifinal at the Siri Fort. "When I joined the sport, I never thought of becoming world No. 1. It was only my mom's dream who would say, 'Saina you have to get an Olympic medal for me. That's it. Not world No. 1'. But today, I feel like 'Oh my God, world No. 1. Obviously it's huge."

World number 1 oh my god it's a great day and really happy to be playing finals tomorrow at india open in Delhi . pic.twitter.com/zPuhTHTTIC

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) March 28, 2015