World Badminton Championships: ‘Saina won in the sense that she reached the final’

Hyderabad: Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal’s father Harvir Singh on Sunday said that his daughter has made the nation proud by becoming the first Indian to secure a silver medal at the World Championship.

He, however, said that this was not the end, adding that Saina would go a long way in her career.

"Although Saina lost, she has won in the sense that she has gone to the final of the prestigious tournament, which was eluding her for the last five chapters," said Harvir.

He further said that Saina would ascend to the number one in the rankings on Monday, explaining that his daughter would grab the maximum points due to reaching the final as opposed to Carolina Marin, who had to defend the title.

Second seed Saina's hopes of securing India's first-ever gold medal at the World Championship at Jakarta were crushed after she lost the pulsating finale 16-21, 19-21 to defending champion Marin of Spain.

Despite Saina leading the second set by 10-5, Marin produced an epic fightback to clinch the prestigious title for the second year in a row.

This was India's fifth medal at the World Championship after P V Sindhu clinched back-to-back bronze medal in 2013 and 2014 and the duo of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa bagged a bronze in women's doubles at the 2011 edition.