Saina Nehwal, one of India’s finest badminton players has recently announced her retirement. The reason seems to be her growing health issues. For more than two years she hasn’t played the sport but now with a final message she says goodbye to the game she loved so dearly.
Over the years, Saina made India proud on multiple occasions by winning cups and medals from around the world through several championships. She made history in 2008 by becoming the first Indian woman to reach an Olympic quarterfinal. In the following year she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title. And as more years passed by, her smashes hit even harder and she won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
But recently her health has taken a toll on her body and that somehow has been overshadowing her game. She played her last game in the year 2023 and the world thought it was just a sabbatical. But on Monday the player shared as to why her decision of leaving the sport has been firm and final.
Saina stayed away from her game for a chronic knee condition. But now as things haven’t improved for the better, she continues to suffer from severe degeneration of cartilage and arthritis. This makes continuous high-intensity training impossible. Her knee is giving up on her and so compromising seems to be the only way out.
Talking on a podcast she revealed, “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”.
The retirement feels like the end of an era, but fans have high hopes that things might work out in her favour and she can get back to the sport that has made the country proud.
Fans can look forward to the bright side where she said she might contribute her talents towards the younger generation, teaching and training them as a coach, but nothing is confirmed yet.
As she signs off India says a happy goodbye to one of the greatest sportspersons the country has ever seen.
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