London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal on Monday became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in the women's singles in badminton. Though she put up a tough fight in the semi-final against Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying, she lost (17-21, 14-21), settling for a bronze.
#AsianGames2018 Saina Nehwal loses to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in Badminton Semi-finals, gets Bronze medal. pic.twitter.com/0WWNm1kk5r
— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2018
With this, Saina ended India’s 36-year drought for winning a medal in the individual singles event at the continental tournament. Last time an Indian brought glory in a singles medal at the Asian Games was Syed Modi in men’s singles at the 1982 Games.
Speaking to the media after the match, Saina said about her opponent: "She was playing strong and I knew she will challenge me today. I was taking her seriously, she had beaten Sung Ji Hyun in the previous match and first time I saw her playing well against a rally player."
"I was not moving that well initially, but after 12-3, I opened up and I started picking up those tough shots. Then one-two rallies happened and there I saw her getting tired but she was very tough. She was playing attacking. She had the lead, I had the good record against her, crowd was shouting (for Indonesian player on adjacent court), so many things were playing in my mind. You could not hear the shuttle (due to noise), you have to be alert."
.@NSaina medals in Singles in major competitions:
— OGQ (@OGQ_India) August 27, 2018
OLYMPIC GAMES:
🥉Bronze - London 2012
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
🥉Bronze - 2017
🥈Silver - 2015
ASIAN GAMES:
🥉Bronze - 2018
COMMONWEALTH GAMES:
🥇Gold - 2018
🥇Gold - 2010
What an achiever👏 OGQ is very proud to support Saina! pic.twitter.com/QzJgSZvZks
Saina, however, would be frustrated because she again she lost against the World No 1, who has beaten her 10 times now.
Big congratulations my friend @NSaina! You made history by winning first ever women’s #individualbadminton medal 🥉for India at #AsianGames in 36 years! India is proud of you!#SainaNehwal #AsianGames2018 pic.twitter.com/GlyOksiT5k
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) August 27, 2018
Congrats @NSaina. First ever medal in womens singles badminton at the Asian Games. What fighting qualities in that first game. Take a bow Saina. Simply awesome 🇮🇳🏸. So proud to support you @OGQ_India @Media_SAI @BAI_Media Keep fighting against TTY in the semis.
— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 26, 2018
Earlier, Saina had stormed into semis with 21-18, 21-16 win over World No. 4 Ratchanok Intanon. It was right then that she assured the country of a medal, marking it as a historic occasion.
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FOR THE FIRST TIME IN #ASIANGAMES, we have won a medal in women's singles Badminton!@NSaina clinches a bronze, and ends our dry spell! Proud of you and your achievement!#KheloIndia #AsianGames2018 #IndiaAtAsianGames pic.twitter.com/B1pwKNqWB4
— Col Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) August 27, 2018
Trust @NSaina to make us proud and script history!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 27, 2018
Her Bronze in the #AsianGames2018 is the first ever medal for India in the women's singles Badminton category.
India congratulates our star badminton player for yet another success. pic.twitter.com/zifupmwsr0
Though she is no longer in the top 10 BWF Rankings, Saina’s overall performance in recent times has been improving after her knee surgery.
Continuing her winning streak from the Commonwealth Games, Saina Nehwal shone again at the Badminton Asia Championship in April when she won a bronze in the women’s singles semifinals. This is for the third time that Saina has ensured a bronze medal for India at the Asian tournament. She had clinched her second gold medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year. Her past achievements include an individual gold in the 2010 CWG in New Delhi and mixed team silver and bronze in 2010 and 2006 respectively. Saina also received the Youth Icon award at the inaugural TOISA in 2015.
36 years without an individual medal in badminton and now 2 individual medals assured in the span of 1 hour. Congrats @Pvsindhu1 and @NSaina. You both are simply awesome. Proud to support you both @OGQ_India 🇮🇳🏸 . Now wish both can make it a dream Indian final
— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 26, 2018
Let's hear a loud cheer for Saina!
Picture Credit: Indianexpress.com