Saina beat Pei Xian Julia Wong of Malaysia in final

Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal. Not only are the names similar, they even hail from the same city. Hyderabad gave Indian sport a tennis champion last year, now they have given us a winner in another racket sport, badminton.

Just like Sania had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to lift a WTA title 15 months ago, Saina on Sunday went into the record books as the first Indian woman to win a four-star badminton event by clinching the singles title at the prestigious Philippines Open.

According to information received from Pasig City, near Manila, the 16-year-old unseeded Indian shocked seventh seed and world No. 66 Pei Xian Julia Wong of Malaysia 21-15, 22-20 in a thrilling final.

Saina, ranked No. 86 in the world, had toppled top seed and world No. 4 Xu Huwaien of Germany en route to the final.

“I just can’t believe it... I never thought I could claim the title going into the tournament. It will take some time for the victory to sink in,” Saina said after the triumph.

“But after having come so far, I was confident of winning the final because I had beaten her in straight games before? I just needed to stay focused and not make mistakes,” said the Pullela Gopichand ward.

“It is very difficult to stay focused and when you are just 16 years old. The pressure cracks you but Saina withstood all these pressure situations and pulled it off,” he said.