At last, celebrations for Nehwal's family

Only Saina and her parents can explain how special this medal is. Dr Harvir Singh and Usha Nehwal, former state-level shuttlers for Haryana, never let Saina be satisfied without an Olympic medal.u00a0

India's Saina Nehwal kisses her bronze medal after beating China's Xin Wang at the London Olympic Games on Saturday.u00a0Pic/AFP

Soon after Saina exploded on the global scene after winning the four-star Philippines Open in 2006, a few journalists during an informal chat with Saina's mother asked what would the celebrations be like at home, to which she shot back: "What celebrations?

We will only celebrate (in the family) after she wins an Olympic medal." Though Saina has many firsts to her credit - World Junior Championships, Super Series title (Indonesia Open), 2010 Commonwealth Games gold, All-England semis in 2010 - an Olympic medal eluded her. She came tentalisingly close in Beijing 2008.

However, her dream was finally realised far away in London on Saturday.u00a0