Aug 12, 2009: Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal began her campaign at the World badminton championship on a winning note defeating Russian Anstasia Prokopenko in straight sets.

Saina defeated Prokopenko 21-10, 21-17.

Saina, who was down with chicken pox just a few days before the beginning of the tournament, showed no signs of fatigue during the match.

Background

Dec 9, 2008 (1545 hrs) Teen badminton sensation Saina Nehwal, who made it to the top 10 rankings very recently, was named the most promising player of the year by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

According to the BWF Vice-President V K Verma, the decision was taken in the federation council meeting in Seoul on December 6.

Besides Saina, two other shuttlers one from Korea and other from Pan America were in race for the title.

Saina had a superb outing in 2008 as she won the World Junior Badminton title, the Chinese Taipei Open and a gold medal at Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune.

She also managed to reach the last eight in Beijing Olympics 2008.

Saina, who was overjoyed on receiving such an honor, said it has given her a boost and motivated her to perform even harder.