Injury-plagued Saina Nehwal pulls out of World Championships, expects to resume training mid-December

The
London
Olympics
bronze-medallist,
who
has
won
a
silver
and
bronze
besides
eight
quarterfinal
finishes
in
the
World
Championships
over
the
years,
is
recovering
from
a
groin
pull
and
knee
injury.

The
big
event
will
be
held
in
Huelva,
Spain
from
December
12
to
19.

“Saina
had
to
withdraw
from
World
Championship
as
she
is
still
recovering
from
the
groin
and
a
knee
injury.
She
won’t
be
able
to
regain
fitness
in
time
to
play
the
tournament,”
Saina’s
husband
and
fellow
shuttler
Kashyap
told
PTI.

Returning
to
action
at
the
Thomas
and
Uber
Cup
Final
in
Aarhus,
Denmark
in
October,
Saina
had
to
retire
midway
in
the
round-robin
match
against
Spain’s
Clara
Azurmendi
due
to
a
groin
niggle.

She
played
in
Denmark
but
again
withdrew
midway
into
the
second
game
of
the
first
round
match
at
French
Open.

“She
had
a
tough
groin
injury
in
Uber
Cup.
She
was
fine
in
Denmark
but
it
didn’t
heal
properly
and
again
started
paining
when
she
was
playing
in
French
Open.
It
aggravated
and
became
serious,”
said
Kashyap.

“She
also
had
a
knee
injury
in
France
and
had
to
pull
out.
She
is
doing
her
rehabilitation
now.
Hopefully,
she
will
be
able
to
get
back
to
training
from
10th
or
15th
of
this
month.”

In
a
stellar
career,
Saina
has
never
missed
the
World
Championships
since
making
her
debut
in
the
2006
edition.

The
31-year-old
from
Hyderabad
claimed
the
silver
in
2015
when
her
rampaging
run
was
stopped
by
Spain’s
Carolina
Marin
in
the
final.
She
also
secured
a
bronze
two
years
later
at
Glasgow,
Scotland.

In
2018,
Saina
claimed
her
second
individual
gold
medal
at
the
Commonwealth
Games
and
also
helped
the
country
win
its
first
mixed
team
title
in
the
quadrennial
event.

However,
she
has
been
ravaged
by
injuries
for
most
of
the
last
two
years
and
missed
the
Tokyo
Olympic
qualification
this
year.

Following
a
series
of
early
exits,
Saina’s
ranking
has
also
slumped
to
world
no.23.

“She
is
naturally
a
bit
upset,
especially
since
it
has
been
tough
two
years
for
her,
she
has
been
getting
injured
too
often,
there
were
niggles,
stomach
issues,
I
mean,
something
or
other
has
been
happening,”
Kashyap
said.

“But
it
is
a
phase
and
she
has
to
work
around
it.
She
can
play
for
2-3
years,
I
feel.
She
is
a
positive
person
and
she
will
figure
things
out.”

Kashyap,
himself,
has
endured
a
tough
time
in
the
international
circuit
with
early
ousters
from
the
last
few
events.
He
slipped
during
training
at
Denmark
and
had
to
retire
midway
from
his
match
the
next
day.

Now
back
to
full
fitness,
Kashyap
is
eyeing
a
good
outing
in
the
two
All
India
senior
ranking
tournaments
at
Chennai
and
Hyderabad,
which
will
restart
the
domestic
season
in
the
country.

“I
am
fit
now
and
am
looking
forward
to
play
well
at
the
two
ranking
events
this
month,”
he
said.