Indian world number eight Saina Nehwal won her first Super Series event in Indonesia on Sunday to raise her country's hopes of a strong performance at the world championships they host in August. The world junior champion beat China's Lin Wang 12-21 21-18 21-9, having lost to the world number three at the Singapore Super Series the previous week.
"Saina's achievement is huge not just for Indian badminton but for Indian sport," former all-England winner and national coach Pullela Gopichand told Reuters.
"In terms of quality, the Indonesian event is as good as the all-England, the Olympics or the world championships with eight of the world's top 10 figuring in it." Nehwal, 19, became the first Indian woman to reach the Olympic singles quarter-finals in Beijing last year.
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