Saina Nehwal Retires: Olympic Medalist Ends Badminton Career Due to Knee Injury

"I had stopped playing two years back. 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," Saina Nehwal said in a podcast as quoted by Olympics.com.

Nehwal, who scripted history by winning a bronze medal in the women's singles badminton event at the London 2012 Olympics, played her last competitive badminton match during the Singapore Open in 2023.

The former World No. 1 revealed that the decision was taken after severe cartilage degeneration in her knees, which made sustained high-intensity training impossible.

"Your cartilage has totally degenerated, you have arthritis... I just told them, 'Now probably I can't do it anymore, it is difficult," she said.

The great badminton player further added that her body could no longer cope up with the demands of top-tier badminton.

"You train eight to nine hours to be the best in the world. Now my knee was giving up in one or two hours. It was swelling and it became very tough to push after that. So I thought it's enough. I can't push it anymore," Nehwal revealed.

Nehwal became the junior world champion in 2008 and scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the quarter-finals in the singles event at the Beijing Olympics.

The next year (2009), the ace badminton player became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title, clinching the Indonesia Open. A year later, Nehwal also became the Commonwealth Games champion.

At the London Olympics in 2012, Nehwal became the first-ever Indian to win an Olympic medal in badminton, clinching bronze after reaching the semi-finals of the women's singles event.

Nehwal didn't stop here as she created more history by becoming the world No. 1 in singles badminton rankings in 2015. She also became only the second shuttler from the country, after Prakash Padukone, to reach the peak.

In 2015, the Indian badminton star clinched the silver medal after losing to Carolina Marina in the final at the BWF World Championships.

However, her career saw a dip due to frequent knee injuries. Despite the setback at the Rio 2016 Olympics, Nehwal showcased her class by clinching bronze at the 2017 World Championships and gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Apart from medals, Nehwal has also been conferred with prestigious national awards, including the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award.

- ANI