10 Parul University Students Meet The Olympic Medalist Saina Nehwal at Hyatt Hyderabad. She Discussed on How She Became World Number One.

Before the session content, here are the core facts of her career as she shared them with the students:

• Secured a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics
• Became World Number One in women’s singles badminton
• Nearly 20 years of international career (from age 12 to 34)
• Played more than 500 international matches
• Remained in the top 10 global players for almost 12 years
• First sport as a child: karate, achieving a brown belt before switching to badminton
• Started badminton at age 9 in Hyderabad after her family moved from Haryana
• Became a district champion within 10 to 15 days of starting training
• Trained 8 to 10 hours daily as a child, including Sundays

The most repeated message in Ms. Nehwal’s session was a clear warning to students: she was not the naturally talented one. She never claimed to be. What defined her, she said, was consistent hard work.

From a very young age, she trained eight, nine, sometimes ten hours every single day, including Sundays. While other children were playing, she was on the court. When friends went on holidays, she travelled for tournaments. This was not a one-time sacrifice. It was a decision she made every day for nearly two decades.

“If a talented person learned something in 100 tries, I did it thousands of times. Why can I not? We are all human beings. It is not magic.”

She also spoke about the role her mother played in shaping her belief. A homemaker from Haryana with no professional badminton background, her mother told her within the first month of training that she would one day become an Olympic medalist. At the time, Ms. Nehwal laughed at the idea. Twelve years later, at London 2012, that belief turned into reality.

This was the most practically actionable part of the session. When students asked how she handles the nerves during the final points of a close match, her answer was precise and grounded in discipline rather than flair.

• Do not play the shot you like; discipline matters more than expression
• Play simple, controlled rallies and make the opponent work
• Ensure your stamina is strong enough that fatigue does not affect decision-making
• Stay calm; excessive aggression and constant smashing can cost points
• Top 10 players make you work just as hard as you make them work
• Knowing when to attack and when to wait comes only with experience

Students followed up by asking about adrenaline and crowd pressure. Her response was clear: by the final moments of a match, the crowd fades away. What truly matters is whether your body can still sustain movement after long rallies and whether your mind can resist playing a shot that feels good instead of one that wins.

“You have to enjoy the pressure. If you do not enjoy it, the results will not come.”

Ms. Nehwal spoke with unusual honesty about the parts of an athletic career that are often left out of motivational talks. She shared that she has cried after losses, felt anger, and spent nights questioning her own worth. Doubt, she said, is not something that disappears. It stays, and you learn to deal with it as long as you keep competing.

Her advice on handling failure was simple, direct, and practical:

• Cry for one or two or five days, then stop
• Go for a run, eat ice cream, talk to yourself
• Keep telling yourself “I can do this” until you begin to believe it
• Do not share your goals with everyone; protect them until they become real
• Remember that every top 10 player in the world has faced moments like this

“Whoever says they have never had doubts is lying. The question is what you do with the doubts, not whether you have them.”

The students were equally curious about how she handles success. Her answer was brief and disciplined: celebrate, but only for a short time, then return to work. The next day is not for relaxation, it is for recovery and preparation.

Her specific rules for handling success were:

• Celebrate for one to two hours, not longer
• The next morning: physiotherapist first, training second
• Remember that players who lost in the first round are already back on court at 6 AM
• If you slow down, the level of the sport moves ahead without you
• Start chasing the next goal before the current achievement fades

She pointed to An Se-young, an Olympic and World Champion who continues to chase multiple Olympic gold medals despite already achieving significant success. She also referenced Novak Djokovic, who did not stop after his first Grand Slam but went on to win many more.

The lesson was clear: greatness does not have a finish line. The moment you believe you are done, someone younger, faster, and more determined is already moving ahead.

The most personal part of the session was her account of the decision that made her World Number One. She was already in the top 5 globally. She was winning tournaments. She was competing in every major event. But the consistent results against the very best players, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Taiwanese, were not coming. She kept losing the same matches. The doubt was building.

The specific facts of the move that changed her career:

• She was already ranked in the global top 5 when she decided to move
• She left Hyderabad, the city where she had trained her entire career
• She moved to Bengaluru with her mother, not with coaches or staff
• They took a small room, the training environment was stripped of distractions
• She worked one on one with a new coach rather than in a group academy
• Outcomes from Bengaluru: World Number One ranking, first World Championship medal, All England Championships final, multiple Super Series titles

“I tried my level best and I have no regrets. The result came. And that is the most important thing, to try, so that you are not left wondering ‘what if’.”

Parul University students got inspired by the session addressed by Saina Nehwal. University helps students to take the sports career by offering various courses:

• Bachelor of Physical Education (B.PEd): for students who want to coach, train, or compete professionally
• Sports Scholarship at Parul University: merit based scholarship for students who excel in sports while pursuing academic degrees
• Cultural Scholarship and Defence Scholarship: additional pathways for talent in different physical disciplines
• World class sports facilities on the Parul University campus: gymnasium, swimming pools, and 24×7 in-campus hospital
• Equestrian Training Programme: rare among Indian universities, for students who want to master horse riding

Students interested in exploring these pathways can read more about sports and scholarship opportunities at Parul University that connected students to this session in the first place.

Ms Namita, one of the ten Parul University students selected for the tour, wrote a detailed LinkedIn post specifically on the Saina Nehwal session. She called it a masterclass in leadership and personal excellence. Her most quoted line from Saina Nehwal was the one about being great once, greater twice, and greatest three times. Ms Monika Sachdeva also wrote about the Saina Nehwal session in her Episode 2 LinkedIn post covering the Hyderabad Leadership Tour.