Why Saina Nehwal got labelled as 'Kangana of Indian sports' on social media
Ace badminton player Saina Nehwal, who represented India thrice in Olympics, recently made a big confession that got her trolled
Ace badminton player Saina Nehwal, who represented India thrice in Olympics, and won a bronze medal in 2012, recently made a big confession that made her the target of trollers.
In an interview, Nehwal confessed she had been clueless that javelin was an Olympic sport and only came to know about javelin when Neeraj Chopra bagged the gold medal in 2021.
This candid confession did not go down well on social media. Users started slamming the sportsperson for not knowing that javelin was an event in the Olympics even calling her the ‘Kangana Ranaut of Indian sports’. Many users ended up comparing her to the controversial actor turned politician.
Some were also surprised that a sportsperson of Saina Nehwal's calibre should be ignorant about the javelin event in Olympics. Another user pointed that entire India only knew Saina Nehwal because her name sounded similar to tennis sensation Sania Mirza.
In an interview on YouTube with Shubhankar Mishra, Nehwal had said that when Neeraj won is when she realised athletics has got this game too.
“You'll gain knowledge only when you see it, right? If you don't see, how will you know? I did not know about javelin throw," she had added. And defended her lack of knowledge by saying that it’s not as if she did not want to know.
"But when you are so deep in your sport, it becomes difficult to know everything. If not you'll have to Google everything non-stop," she said, adding that if you're perfect in your own field, that's more than enough.
Nehwal, a recipient of the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan joined the BJP in 2020.