President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated India's top women's shuttler Saina Nehwal on Saturday after the 25-year-old was assured of becoming the World No.1.
Saina on Saturday reached her maiden women's singles final of the $275,000 India Open Superseries by defeating unseeded Japanese Yui Hashimoto 21-15, 21-11 in only 44 minutes at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here.
The win, and the loss of Spain's Carolina Marin in the semi-final, assured the Hyderabadi of the No.1 spot when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) releases its revised rankings on Thursday.
"The phenomenal accomplishments of @NSaina make us very proud. I congratulate her on being the World Number 1," Modi tweeted.
Mukherjee said Saina deserves all the accolades for reaching the top.
"Congrats Saina Nehwal on becoming World no 1 in Badminton; well deserved honour; best wishes for Indian Open Semi Final," he wrote on Twitter.
Saina will take on former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon in the final on Sunday.
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