SSC
'Playing to Win' is the autobiography of which badminton player?
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Answer: Option A — Saina Nehwal
Detailed Solution
"Playing to Win: My Life... On and Off Court" is the autobiography of the Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal, published in 2012.
About the book:
It describes her childhood in Hisar, Haryana, and her move to Hyderabad, where her father, Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist, supported her badminton career with great sacrifice.
It covers her training under coaches such as S. M. Arif and Pullela Gopichand, her early achievements, and her rise to the top of world badminton.
It describes her bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, India's first Olympic medal in badminton.
About Saina Nehwal:
- She was born on 17 March 1990 in Hisar, Haryana.
- In 2008, she won the World Junior Championships and reached the quarter-finals of the Beijing Olympics, the first Indian woman to do so.
- She won the bronze medal in women's singles at the 2012 London Olympics.
- In April 2015, she became world number one in women's singles, the first Indian woman to achieve this.
- She won silver at the 2015 World Championships and bronze in 2017.
- She won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 (Delhi) and 2018 (Gold Coast).
- She received the Arjuna Award (2009), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009-10), the Padma Shri (2010) and the Padma Bhushan (2016).
- She married fellow badminton player Parupalli Kashyap in 2018.
- The Hindi film "Saina" (2021), starring Parineeti Chopra, is based on her life.
Autobiographies of other Indian sportswomen:
- Mary Kom: "Unbreakable".
- Sania Mirza: "Ace Against Odds".
- T. Usha: "Golden Girl".
Other Indian badminton stars:
- V. Sindhu: Olympic silver (2016) and bronze (2020); World Champion (2019).
- Jwala Gutta: doubles player; World Championship bronze (2011) with Ashwini Ponnappa.
- Aparna Popat: nine-time national champion.
Why not the other options?
- ✗V. Sindhu has not written "Playing to Win".
- ✗Jwala Gutta is a doubles specialist.
- ✗Aparna Popat was a national champion in the 1990s and 2000s.
Quick tip
Remember: "Playing to Win" = Saina Nehwal (2012); first Indian Olympic badminton medal (bronze, 2012); first Indian woman world No. 1 (2015); film "Saina" (2021).
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.