Saina Nehwal is not open to coaching in the future and calls it the “toughest job”.© AFP
Olympic Games and World Championships medalist shuttler Saina Nehwal has said that she is suffering from inflammation in her knees, which has kept her out of competitive sports. “Three to four months ago I played Singapore Open. My knees and cartilage started hurting. So I consulted a doctor and my physio is also working on it. My knees showed inflammation. I don’t want to play half-heartedly.” Saina said at the press conference in Gurugram during Global Race 2023 on Wednesday.
She also said she is not open to coaching in the future, calling it the “toughest job.”
“I don’t think about coaching. For me, playing is easy and coaching is the toughest job,” she added.
Nehwal will miss the Asian Games due to an injury.
Interestingly, Saina has not been in good form in the 2020s. Last year she played thirteen World Tour tournaments of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and reached the quarter-finals only once in the Singapore Open. She dropped out of other tournaments, especially in the first round.
Also this year, she has played six BWF World Tour tournaments, losing three times in the first round and three times in the second round.
She is currently ranked number 55 in the world in women’s singles.
Her last BWF World Tour title victory came in January 2019, when she won the Indonesia Masters.
Indian badminton team for 2023 Asian Games
Men’s singles: HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth (individual/team), Lakshya Sen and Mithun Manjunath (team)
Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and Dhruv Kapila/MR Arjun (individual/team)
Women’s singles: PV Sindhu and Ashmita Chaliha (individual/team), Anupama Upadhyaya and Malvika Bansod (team)
Women’s doubles: Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly and Ashwini Ponnappa/Tanisha Crasto (individual/team)
Mixed doubles: Rohan Kapoor /N Sikki Reddy and Sai Pratheek K/Tanisha Crasto.
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