Saina Nehwal broke a glass ceiling for Indian badminton at the 2012 London Olympics by winning the bronze medal. She was the first player from the country to have won an Olympic medal and her rise is seen as the starting point of India’s elevation to where the country is right now in international badminton.

Saina had recently hit the headlines when she was providing her opinion on all that transpired at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She was particularly criticised when she said that wrestler Vinesh Phogat and her team ought to take responsibility for her missing her weight cut and stunningly being disqualified from her gold medal match. Saina and her husband, former player Parupalli Kashyap have recently hit out at the online criticism.

“During the Paris Olympics she had said something and in the comments (on social media) I was seeing people saying that that she got gifted the bronze medal,” said Kashyap in a conversation with RJ Anmol and actor Amrita Rao.

“Olympic level ke layak toh bano aap. Pehle Olympics ke liye qualify toh karke dikhao (Try and get yourself up to the level of the Olympics),” said Saina.

Saina’s bronze medal came after her opponent on the day, two-time World Championship medallist Wang Xin, had to retire with an injury during the second game. Saina had lost the first game 21-18. “She was not the kind of player who showed any pain or emotions on court. But there I was seeing that she is flinching and I could see it in her face and I felt that something is going on here,” recalled Saina.

“I just heard a light sound from her end and she just sat down. I didn’t realise that something has happened to her from that. The next two-three points she was struggling to walk. And then suddenly she held out her hand and I wondered what was happening here. I asked and she just said ‘Very bad, very bad’.

“Gopi sir is then looking very happy and saying I have won a medal. I just couldn’t understand anything,” said Saina.

India won six medals at the Paris Olympics, one less than what the country managed at Tokyo 2020, with no golds and the badminton contingent in particular disappointed with no medals coming from the sport for the first time since Beijing 2008. This is despite the fact that India had strong contenders in two-time medallist PV Sindhu, World Championships bronze medallist HS Prannoy, star men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, and Lakshya Sen. Lakshya lost his bronze medal match, thus coming closest to a medal after which coach Prakash Padukone