Saina Nehwal signs $7.4 million deal

Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal signed a three-year deal worth 400 rupees (US$7.4 million) with a sport management company, and becomes the first non-cricketer athlete to be under contract with Rhiti Sports.  She also becomes the highest paid Indian sportsperson outside cricket.

“We’re very thrilled with the base amount and it’s an honour since she’s the first non-cricket athlete they’ve taken on,” Nehwal’s father Harvir Singh told the Indian Express. Saina has made numerous headlines in her homeland and abroad after scooping the bronze medal in the women’s singles competition in the London Olympics.