Her bronze medal in the London Olympics has sent India into a state of frenzy, but her shocking quarterfinal defeat in her maiden appearance at the mega event in Beijing four years ago, still rankles shuttle queen Saina Nehwal.
India's Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal has gained a place to fourth in the world badminton rankings.
Parupalli Kashyap, who surprised all and sundry by reaching the quarter-finals of the badminton men's singles event in the Olympics, is disappointed to return empty-handed from London but said the experience has made him more mature as a shuttler.
Disheartened by a streak of losses last year, Saina Nehwal wanted to stop playing badminton, revealed Pullela Gopichand, the London Olympics bronze medallist's coach.
The enormity of her achievement has gradually started sinking in but for Saina Nehwal, who is 'jumping with joy inside', it still feels like a dream that she stood on podium, receiving an Olympic medal.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal today returned to a rousing reception after winning a historic bronze medal at the Olympic Games in London.
Defending champion Lin Dan beat great rival Lee Chong Wei in a gripping men's final as China sealed a historic clean-sweep of all five Olympic badminton titles on Sunday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal said she could not believe she won a medal after she was awarded the victory against Chinese Xin Wang in London on Saturday.
'I was lucky to win Bronze' 
Saina Nehwal wore purple instead of the regular black for her bronze outing. Perhaps she had a premonition that she would be joining the royal league of Olympic medallists; there was no need for the colour of mourning.
Sukhwant Basra writes.
Know Saina |
Road to bronze
Could you have dreamt of a day when Saina Nehwal would be fitter than a Chinese player? It happened today! From Beijing to London, Saina has come a long way, and the years of hard work and dedication have paid off.
Aparna Popat writes.
As China’s Wang Xin limped out of the Wembley Arena midway into the bronze-medal playoff against Saina Nehwal, coach Pullela Gopi Chand lived a dream through his most illustrious pupil.
China recovered from the expulsion of its top seeds in a match-throwing scandal Saturday when Zhao Yunlei and Tian Qing won the Olympic women's doubles, as Li Xuerui also took women's singles gold.
Milagrow HumanTech, a leading domestic robots company, on Saturday announced the launch of a robot in the name of Saina Nehwal, who won India's first ever badminton medal at the Olympics.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday congratulated Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal for winning a bronze medal in the women's singles badminton at the London Olympics.
Saina Nehwal reckons that her Olympic bronze medal will inspire more youngsters to take up the sport and the badminton scenario in the country will change soon with new talents coming through.