Sania Mirza vs Saina Nehwal- Who has had a greater influence on Indian sports?

Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal are two names that have glorified women’s sport in India. Both have been successful in their own sport and despite contrasting personalities, both have an immense influence on women’s sport in the country. The two talented athletes from Hyderabad rose to fame last decade and have been since dominating their respective sports in India.But which one of the two has a greater influence on sport in the country? The detailed analysis, taking into consideration several factors has to be taken into account, in order to understand their roles in our society.

#1 On-Court Performances

Sania Mirza

Mirza has achieved a career-high ranking of 27th in the world. She has beaten the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Martina Hingis and Svetlana Kuznetsova. She has won a single WTA title and best performance in a Grand Slam was at the 2005 US Open when she reached the fourth round. Now focussing just on doubles, Mirza won the Australian and French Open in mixed doubles and has reached the finals of the French Open in women’s doubles. She also won the gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

Saina Nehwal

Nehwal is currently ranked 7th in the world. In 2010, she attained her career-high ranking of 2nd in the world. Nehwal won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in women’s singles the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth games in women’s singles. Along with winning the gold at the 2008 world junior championships, Nehwal also collected bronze at the 2014 Uber Cup. Saina Nehwal also won the India Open Grand Prix gold twice in 2010 and 2014 and the Australian Super Series gold in 2014.

#2 Records Broken

Sania Mirza

Mirza was seeded 32nd at the 2006 Australian Open. She became the first female Indian to be seeded at a Grand Slam.

Mirza and Bhupathi won the 2009 Australian Open when she became the first Indian women to win a Grand Slam.

Mirza is the first ever Indian woman to win a WTA title. At the 2005 US Open she became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Saina Nehwal

Nehwal is the first Indian to win a medal in badminton at the Olympics. In 2008, she became the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. She was also the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open on in 2009.

Nehwal became the under-19 national champion in 2006, creating history as the first player to win the prestigious Asian Satellite Badminton tournament (India Chapter) twice.

#3 Awards

Sania Mirza

• Arjuna Award (2004)
• WTA New Comer of the Year (2005)
• Padma Shri (2006)
• '50 heroes of Asia' by Time in October 2005.
• In March 2010, The Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India proud"
• Hyderabad Women of the Decade Achievers Award for Excellence in Sports (2014)
• Brand Ambassador of Telangana

Saina Nehwal

• Arjuna Award (2009)
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009–2010)
• Padma Shri (2010)
• Hyderabad Women of the Decade Achievers Award for Excellence in Sports (2014)
• The International Crops Reserch Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has named Nehwal as their ‘Ambassador of Goodwill’.

#4 Development of Sport and social contributions

Sania Mirza

Mirza started the ‘Sania Mirza Tennis Academy’ in March 2013 with the aim of providing world class tennis training to Indian tennis players. The academy also recognizes rural talents and a few selected are trained at no expenses to brighten India’s future.

Along with the academy, Mirza is actively involved with PETA and also donated to the ALS Foundation.

Saina Nehwal

There were talks of Nehwal opening an academy in Bengaluru in 2012. However, the Indian ace is yet to open an academy. Nehwal has donated badminton equipment several times, participated in blood donation drives and for the Solibad charity.

#5 Global Visibility

Sania Mirza

Mirza’s extroverted nature along with the popularity of tennis has helped her gain followers and fans from all corners of the world.

In 2010, Sania Mirza was ranked 165th in the world. Despite her ranking intennis, MIrza held the number one spot for being the most searched female tennis player on Google. She beat the likes of the then number one Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and a host of tennis superstars.

Currently she has 6.3 million followers on Facebook and 1.9 million followers on Twitter.

Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal appeared on the global scene in 2006 when she became the first Indian woman to win a 4-star tournament, the Philippines Open. After being ranked 2nd in the world in 2010, Sania gained global recognition.

She currently has 4 million followers on Facebook and 3.4 lakh followers on Twitter.

Conclusion

The ‘Sania and Saina’ influence in women’s sport in India has largely helped several youngsters to take up sports as a career. Following the success of the duo, several female athletes in various sports such as shooting, squash, table tennis and so on have been getting the recognition they deserve. Although, it is difficult to analyse which one of the two has had a greater influence, we are very fortunate to witness the two achieve great heights for India in the world of sport. So based on the arguments, you can have your own winner, because both of them have done a great deal to help women’s sport in India.