Indian badminton sensation Saina Nehwal on Saturday visited Adani Vidya Vihar where she was felicitated and also met the schoolchildren.
The Indian Express writes that Saina who a won a bronze in the recently concluded London Olympics, was handed over a cheque of Rs 11 lakh by Adani Group. Nehwal is also the brand ambassador of Fortune Plus range for Adani Wilmar Limited (AWL).
“Sometimes, the media attention adds to the pressure and I just wanted to focus on my game. It is great to see 13 years of hard work finally paying off. I used to feel very bad when I saw sports stalwarts like Jeev Milkha Singh and PT Usha regretting their failure to win in Olympics. I had vowed to make India’s Olympic dreams come true,” the Indian Express quoted Saina as saying.
“I hardly went to school when I was in Classes VIII, IX and X as I was always playing. When in Class XI, I wanted to quit studies to focus solely on badminton as I was playing at international level. Although I was a good student, it was getting difficult to train for international tournaments and study at the same time. Thankfully, since 2006, badminton has become very popular,” Nehwal added.
Meanwhile a report in The Times of India says that Saina quit her studies when she was 12th in order to pursue badminton.
My father didn't tell me till recently that how he had borrowed money from his friends so that I could have shoes, rackets and shuttle cocks. I chose badminton and gave up studies in 12th class to take part in 2008 Beijing Olympics. Results were disappointing there. However, I am very happy I did it this time around, even though it was only a bronze," she said
Saina further added, “While leaving for London, I promised my dad that I would bring back medal. Though it was not the colour I wanted, but still at least I got the medal.”
"My next target is Asian Games and Commonwealth Games . And 2016 Olympics is definitely on cards , but I will see how my body is doing," TOI quoted Saina.