Badminton: Saina Nehwal plays down Paris Olympics hopes, says retirement not in mind yet

London Olympic medalist Saina Nehwal has not entirely given up on Paris Olympics dreams but the 33-year-old said it would be tough for her to make the cut, considering her long-standing troubles with knee injury issues. Saina has not played on the tour since her first-round exit at Singapore Open in June.

Saina Nehwal has not made it past the second round of any of the 6 tournaments she took part in 2023 and the star shuttler had pulled out of Asian Games 2023 trials earlier this year due to injury concerns.

Saina Nehwal, who has slipped to No. 55 in women’s singles badminton rankings, is not even in the top 100 in the Race to Paris rankings, having played only in two tournaments since the Olympics qualification cycle began in May. Saina needs to produce consistent results if she is to even get close to making the cut-off for the Olympic Games.

“I get inflammation in my knee whenever I train for an hour or two. I am not able to bend my knee so a second session of training is not possible. The doctors have given me a couple of injections. Of course, the Olympics is near and it is tough (to qualify),” Saina told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday.

”But I am trying my level best to come back. The physios are helping me but if the inflammation doesn’t reduce, it will take a little more time to recover. I also don’t want to play half-heartedly and results will also not come.

“If you are thinking about the knee showing inflammation after a training, then in tournament also if it shows up after one round, then it will be a negative sign. I am trying to sort out that first. Playing is easy, to maintain the body, to not have any niggles is what is important. Hopefully, with the guidance of physios and Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, let’s see how I recover and comeback. It all depends on practice,” she added.

NO RETIREMENT PLANS

Saina, however, ruled out immediate plans of retirement, saying she is trying her best to give it another go at the highest level.

”Everyone has to retire someday…there is no deadline. Everyone is going to stop when you feel the body is not supporting you.” ”But at the moment I am trying. As a sports person, it is my duty to try because I love the game and I have been playing for so many years.

”But if it doesn’t happen, then it means, how much I have tried. I have done everything, I mean I shouldn’t have any regrets. My target is not to play Asian Games or the Olympics because I have achieved a lot in those tournaments and of course, it could have been better if I would have been able to play, but let’s see how it goes,” she added.