One of India’s leading athletes, Saina Nehwal celebrates her 30th birthday today. The Padma Bhushan award-winning badminton player is the first player from India to achieve the number one ranking in the game. In addition to this feat, she has won medals at all levels of BWF championships and an Olympic medal too. It will be fair to say that she is a torchbearer of badminton in India and through her persistent success and conduct on and off the court, she has encouraged several others to take the sport. On Saina's birthday, we take a look at five of her best performances. Saina Nehwal Birthday Special: Lesser Known Facts About Ace Indian Shuttler.

BWF World Junior Championship 2008 vs Sayaka Sato: Saina Nehwal announced herself on the big stage with 21-9, 21-18 win over Japan’s Sayaka Sato to clinch a gold medal at the BWF World Junior Championship of 2008.

Commonwealth Games 2010 vs Mew Choo Wong: One of the best games of Saina Nehwal’s career where she came back from a set down to claim gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Mew Wong of Malaysia led 19-21 against Nehwal but could not prevent the Indian star from producing an epic fightback and claiming the title 19-21, 23-21, 21-13.

Australian Open 2016 vs Sun Yu: The win is important in context to Saina Nehwal’s career as she was going through a bit of rough patch. She defeated China’s Sun Yu 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 to claim her second Australian Badminton Superseries title as a world no 8.

Commonwealth Games 2018 vs PV Sindhu: A win against her compatriot P V Sindhu made a lot of headlines as it helped Saina Nehwal win her second Commonwealth Games gold. She defeated PV Sindhu 21-18, 23-21 in a contest decided by a fine margin.

Olympic Games 2012 vs Wang Xin: Although she won the Bronze medal match courtesy an injury to Wang Xin of China, the result is important as it gave India a coveted medal at the London Olympics of 2012. Saina Nehwal had lost the opening set 18-21, but luck played a huge part in this iconic win.

A Look At Records Held By Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal has an important year ahead of her with the 2020 Olympics around the corner. All eyes will be on her as she carries the hope of a billion Indians.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2020 10:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).