Saina Nehwal’s fearlessness and confidence is evident the moment she steps on court.Getty Images

She’s the girl from Hyderabad who isn’t afraid to take on the world. Badminton star Saina Nehwal has smashed her way into badminton’s top-10 with a hard-to-play mix of aggressive play backed by a fearless attitude. Now the 18-year-old is already aiming to break into the top-five this year.

Says Saina: “Last year, I’d targeted to get into the top-25. But when I started beating all the top players, I thought why not aim for the top-10. I’ve fulfiled that dream. Now I want to work harder.”

For Saina, 2008 was the year when everything — much to everyone’s surprise — began to click. She was nestling in around the 30th spot in the world rankings at the start of the year. But she shone in one event after another and became the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championship. The Badminton World Federation also named her the Most Promising Player of 2008.

Saina (extreme right) with Trupti Murgunde in the bronze medal play-off against Gail Emms and Donna Kellogg of England at the Commonwealth Games 2006, Melbourne

But the fast rising young star isn’t one to be satisfied with anything than the very best. She’s already working out strategies with her coach on how to break into the world top-five this year. She’s also spending long hours on court now that she’s back home in Hyderabad.

And remember this is after a tough, exhausting year when she travelled almost non-stop from one tournament to another between June and November.

“I just love this competitive life,” she says, showing the determination that has taken her to her present position. “I want to train hard to prepare for the coming year.” She’s eyeing the World Senior Championship and All England Championships this year.

Her new-found status as a rising star in the world of badminton became obvious when she was invited to play in the Kuala Lumpur World Super Series Masters Final last month — only eight of the world’s best players are asked to play in the $500,000 tournament. She made it to the semi-finals, beating top players like Hongyan Pi of France and Mew Choo Wang of Malaysia on the way.

One off-court indication of how her star is rising comes from the number of advertising offers coming her way. Badminton stars aren’t as sought after as top-rank cricketers and back in 2006, Globosport, which manages Saina’s endorsements, barely managed to put Rs 3 lakh in the kitty for her, which helped to defray her travel expenses.

Saina reacts after beating fourth seed Chen Wang of Hong Kong at the Beijing Olympics 2008

Countless smashes and matches later, Saina has just signed up one big deal and is on the verge of inking three more. She now earns Rs 30 lakh per endorsement. “Her fee is growing every month,” says Indranil Das Blah, vice- president of the sports division at Globosport. “She’s the most exciting young sportsperson we have today.”

In a year when nothing seemed to go wrong, the defining moment for Saina probably came at the Beijing Olympics. She made it to the quarter finals and even beat the fourth-seeded Wang Chen of China in the pre-quarter finals. That was a hugely confidence boosting moment. “After that, I felt that if I could reach the quarter final of an Olympics, I could win other events too,” she says.

Indeed, her coach Pullela Gopi-chand rates her Olympic matches “very high because they were on a big stage”. “You want players who can deliver the goods and won’t freeze on the big moments,” he says.

Gopichand, a one-time winner of the All England Championships, has been her coach since 2005. Saina says that as an 11-year-old she was inspired by Gopi-chand’s big win in England. “I thought that if he could win the All England Championships, why can’t I,” she recalls.

Pullela Gopichand and Saina in action during a training session

Saina’s Beijing performance won her a larger fan following than ever before but badminton lovers had already been tracking her exceptional performances ever since she won the Philippines Open in 2006.

And last year, she notched up a string of great performances. It all began with her successful pre-Olympic outings at the Singapore Super Series in June — she became the first Indian girl to reach the semi-final at this level. Then, after the Olympics, she won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold and World Junior Badminton Championship titles besides delivering impressive performances at several other big tournaments, beating players like world champion Zhu Lin.

Gopichand says Saina has always been an attacking player. “But she had a very limited range of strokes earlier. Now she has developed her strokes and become an aggressive all-round player,” he says.

She’s a tough fighter too. Says Gopi-chand, “Her biggest strength is her will to learn and work hard. She’s very committed and on court, she’s fearless.”

Says Saina: “I’m quite strong mentally. Earlier, I used to get scared of top players. But now, I have played them so many times and feel I can beat them. Sometimes I lose but only because of their experience.”

She’s motivated by every success she achieves. “I get motivated with each event that I do well in, and train even harder,” she says.

Does she feel pressured now that a billion Indians are watching her every move — and have finally stopped confusing her with the other sporting star from Hyderabad, Sania Mirza? “I don’t like taking the pressure. I just play for my own happiness and enjoy my game. So what if I lose one game? I’m doing my best and will do better in the next tournament,” she says.

Saina typically trains for four hours on-court every morning. That’s followed by another four-hour session in the evenings, off-court this time. When she isn’t playing or training, she’s a regular teenager and loves to listen to music and watch movies — “I’m a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan,” she says. But while she may miss out on other teenage stuff, the 18-year-old student of St Ann’s College, Hyderabad, has no complaints.

“Sometimes I feel others are free to do anything. But that’s ok. I don’t like to party and I’m very happy just to play my sport, eat and sleep. It has been like that for nine years now,” she says.

Saina first started playing badminton at nine, when her parents moved from Hisar to Hyderabad. Her father, Harvir Singh, an agricultural scientist, and mother, Usha Rani, were keen badminton players at their local club in Hisar, and a young Saina would often wander onto the court when they played.

“She was very active and was a keen runner and swimmer from a young age,” recalls Singh.

In 1998, when her father was transferred to Hyderabad, he met ace badminton coach S.M. Arif and that was when Saina was introduced to the sport. “Arif Sir saw her just holding the racket. And he said bring her to my summer camp,” recounts Singh.

Within a month of joining Arif’s camp in May 1999, Saina won a state-level under-10 event. And by the year end, she won a Sports Authority of India fellowship.

“When I started winning small tournaments, I used to enjoy seeing my name in the newspaper,” recalls Saina.

She trained rigorously even then. For two years, she travelled 25 km every morning to train under Arif before school till her family moved closer to the training facility. “She was a very determined child and took her games as seriously as others took their studies. She used to say, ‘I will also go for tuitions — in badminton’,”says her father.

Soon, Saina was making her mark. In 2003, she won her first international event, the under-19 Czech International tournament. The same year, at 13, she became the youngest member ever of an Indian team at the Uber Cup, the biggest team event in women’s badminton. Then, in 2004, she won the silver medal at the Youth Commonwealth Games.

But it was in 2005 that the badminton world took serious note when she beat eight-time national champion and then world No. 27 Aparna Popat at the Asian Satellite Circuit. Then came the Philippines Open title in 2006. And though she had a lacklustre 2007, she used it to gain crucial experience.

“Now I’ve got the experience so I’m giving consistent performances,” says Saina.

She knows it will be a tough climb from here on. “I’m scared about what happens next. I’m at the level where it’s important to give results at every tournament,” she says.

On the anvil immediately are the Malaysia Open and Korea Open super series events in January. Then, there’s the All England Championships in March. But her goal is clear: to break into the top five.

“It’s a realistic goal. We’re working towards it,” says Gopichand. Certainly, the gritty youngster is raring to give it her all.