Saina Nehwal opened up on her plans and broke her silence on her absence from the badminton court for three years. The London Olympics bronze medalist opened up speculation over her retirement. Nehwal last played a competitive match in June 2023.
Saina Nehwal ended the speculation over her playing future amid rumours of her retiring from the sport, following a long hiatus from the sport. The Indian sporting legend has not stepped on the court for a competitive match since June 2023 during the Singapore Open, but has not made any announcement on her plans for the future.
Saina finally opened up about her absence and confirmed that she has retired from the sport. The 35-year-old explained that injuries had made it difficult for her to continue playing despite her best efforts. She claimed that she had informed her close ones that her playing career is over and did not feel the need to make a public announcement.
“No, no, I have stopped playing. I have stopped playing 2 years back actually. I used to think that I entered with my own will and left with my own will, so there is no need to announce much. You are not capable of playing anymore, that’s it, it’s fine. Your cartilage has totally degenerated. Arthritis has happened. That’s what my parents needed to know that. My coaches needed to know that. And I just told them that I might not be able to do it. It’s difficult and slowly people will also know when I am not in the circuit that Saina is not playing,” said Saina in an interaction with Subhojit Ghosh.
“Obviously, but I didn’t think that it is such a big matter to say that I am retiring or anything. But I just thought that my time is up because I can’t push much. My knee is not able to push as much as before. You train for 8-9 hours to be the best in the world. Now my knee was giving up in 1-2 hours because it was swelling and it was very tough for me to push after that. So I thought that it’s enough, I can’t push it anymore,” she added.