Shuttle star Saina Nehwal on Monday confirmed that she has retired from competitive badminton. Saina said that due to a chronic knee ailment, she was unable to cope with the physical demands of the top-level sport. The London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist once listed the three “terrifying” rivals of her career while maintaining that there is no rivalry between current player PV Sindhu.
Who were Saina Nehwal’s ‘scary’ opponents?
Saina Nehwal shared one of the most heated rivalries in modern badminton with Spanish shuttler Carolina Marín and badminton player Tai Tzu Ying and China’s Wang Yihan, the latter being Nehwal’s “nemesis”.
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Shuttle star Saina Nehwal on Monday confirmed that she has retired from competitive badminton. Saina said that due to a chronic knee ailment, she was unable to cope with the physical demands of the top-level sport. The London 2012 Olympic bronze medalist once listed the three “terrifying” rivals of her career while maintaining that there is no rivalry between current player PV Sindhu.
Who were Saina Nehwal’s ‘scary’ opponents?
Saina Nehwal shared one of the most heated rivalries in modern badminton with Spanish shuttler Carolina Marín and badminton player Tai Tzu Ying and China’s Wang Yihan, the latter being Nehwal’s “nemesis”.
In the House of Glory podcast episode 4, Saina Nehwal said, “She had no rivalry with PV Sindhu, the only rivalry I felt at that time was with 2-3 players. One was Carolina, the second was Tai Tzu Ying and the third was Wang Yihan,” said the Padma Bhushan recipient.
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The former shuttle pioneer added, “She (Wang Yihan) was so scary, I had to fight her every time.”
Saina Nehwal bids farewell to competitive badminton
The retirement announcement comes almost two years after Saina last played a competitive match at the 2023 Singapore Open.
Announcing her retirement, Saina said in a podcast, “I stopped playing two years ago. I actually felt that I entered the sport on my own terms and left on my own terms, so there was no need to announce it.”
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The former shuttle pioneer added, “She (Wang Yihan) was so scary, I had to fight her every time.”
Saina Nehwal bids farewell to competitive badminton
The retirement announcement comes almost two years after Saina last played a competitive match at the 2023 Singapore Open.
Announcing her retirement, Saina said in a podcast, “I stopped playing two years ago. I actually felt that I entered the sport on my own terms and left on my own terms, so there was no need to announce it.”
The former world number one said: “If you’re not able to play anymore, that’s what it is. It’s OK,” explaining that the severe degeneration of her knee forced her to make the crucial decision. According to the 35-year-old Arjuna awardee, her knee condition has made it impossible to sustain high-intensity training.
“Your cartilage has totally degenerated, you have arthritis, my parents needed to know, my coaches needed to know, and I just told them, ‘I probably can’t do it now, it’s hard,'” she said, reiterating that she didn’t believe a formal retirement announcement was needed.
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She further noted that her time was up because she couldn’t push hard, “People will also slowly realize that Saina is not playing.” A year ago, she said that an athlete’s career has a short life.
Saina suffered a career-threatening knee injury during the 2016 Rio Olympics. Despite a strong comeback in 2017 to win bronze at the World Championships, the star shuttler has not maintained her performance due to recurring knee problems.
