Olympic medalist Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal has announced her retirement. Confirming her retirement from competitive sports, Saina Nehwal said that her body is no longer able to support her according to the demands of elite sports. In such a situation, she will not be able to continue this sport.
Saina Nehwal announced retirement
London Olympics 2012 bronze medalist Saina Nehwal last played a competitive match in the Singapore Open in 2013. She has not been seen in professional badminton for the last two and a half to three years. Her knee is not supporting her, due to which she was away from the badminton court for a long time.
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35-year-old Saina Nehwal may have been away from the badminton circuit but hadn’t announced her retirement yet. Now, in a podcast, Saina Nehwal said, “I quit playing two years ago. I felt I started playing on my own terms and would retire on my own terms, so there was no need to announce it. If you’re not able to play anymore, that’s fine.” Nehwal said the decision was made due to a serious knee problem that made consistent high-intensity training impossible.
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Nehwal further said in the same podcast, “Your cartilage is completely damaged, you have arthritis, my parents should have known about this, my coach should have known about this and I just told them, ‘I probably won’t be able to do this anymore, this is difficult.’” On announcing her retirement, Saina said, “People were slowly realising that Saina was not playing.” Regarding her knee injury, Saina said, “You train for eight to nine hours to become the best in the world, now my knee was giving up in just one or two hours.”
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She was the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic bronze medal. She was also ranked No. 1 in the world in 2015. She won the BWF World Junior Championships in 2008 and the Super Series title (Indonesia Open 2009). She also won gold medals at the 2010 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, making her the first Indian badminton player to win two singles gold medals at these Games. The Government of India has honored her with prestigious civilian and sporting honors, including the Arjuna Award (2009), the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna (2010), the Padma Shri (2010), and the Padma Bhushan (2016).
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Nehwal’s career suffered a major setback after suffering a serious knee injury at the Rio 2016 Olympics, which threatened to end her career. Although she returned to win bronze at the 2017 World Championships and gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, persistent knee problems repeatedly slowed her down. In 2024, she revealed that she had developed arthritis in both knees, and that cartilage deterioration was making it increasingly difficult for her to continue high-intensity training at the elite level.
