Saina becomes first Indian shuttler to win silver at World Badminton Championships
Indian badminton’s poster girl Saina Nehwal narrowly missed out on Gold at the World Badminton Championship in Jakarta, the 25 year old however did manage to create history by becoming the first Indian to win silver at the World Badminton Championship. The world number two Indian went down 16-21 19-21 to her numero uno nemesis Carolina Marin from Spain in a match which lasted 59 minutes. It was the second successive loss in a major final for Saina with Spainard triumphing in the finals of the All England Championships as well.
This was India’s fifth medal at the World Championship after P V Sindhu clinched the bronze twice in 2013 and 2014 and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up a bronze in women’s doubles at the 2011 edition.
Didn’t play my best: Saina
Indian ace Saina Nehwal on Sunday said she lacked patience and committed to many errors, which dashed her dreams of winning the gold medal at the prestigious Badminton World Championships in Jakarta.“Today I didn’t play my best, I could’ve done better. Too many mistakes in first game. In the second, I had a lead, but points went by very quickly and within no time she was level” she said after the match.
Anthem Goof up at the presentation ceremony
Marin’s moment to savour her stunning victory was slightly marred by an anthem gaffe at the medal ceremony. Draped in her country’s flag, the 22-year-old looked slightly embarrassed but put on a brave face when the Franco-era Spanish national anthem, instead of the modern one which does not contain any lyrics, was played in the arena.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) moved quickly to apologise for the error and released a statement soon after the ceremony.
“The Badminton World Federation and the local hosts for the BWF World Championships have apologised to Carolina Marin for playing the incorrect version of Spain’s national anthem today,” it read.
