Who were Saina Nehwal's ‘scary' rivals? It's not PV Sindhu — all about 3 of Olympic medallist's nemeses
Saina Nehwal confirmed her retirement from competitive badminton due to a chronic knee condition, saying it hindered her ability to meet the sport's demands. The former world No 1 had 3 ‘scary’ rivals. Find out all about 3 of the Olympic medallists' nemeses.
Ace star shuttler Saina Nehwal confirmed her retirement from competitive badminton on Monday, explaining that a chronic knee condition had left her unable to cope with the physical demands of the elite sport. The 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist once listed three ‘scary’ rivals of her career, while stressing that there was no rivalry between her and contemporary player PV Sindhu.
Who were Saina Nehwal's 'scary' rivals?
Saina Nehwal shared one of the most lopsided rivalries in modern badminton, with the Spanish shuttler Carolina Marín and Taipei badminton player Tai Tzu Ying and China's Wang Yihan, with the latter being her “nemesis.”
In episode 4 of the House of Glory podcast, which aired on Monday, the Padma Bhushan recipient said, “Had no rivalry with PV Sindhu, the only rivalry I felt at that time was with 2 to 3 players. One was Carolina, the other was Tai Tzu Ying and third was Wang Yihan.”
The trailblazer shuttler added, "She (Wang Yihan) was so scary, had to struggle every time with her."
Saina Nehwal bids adieu to competitive badminton
The retirement announcement comes almost two years after Saina last played a competitive match at the Singapore Open in 2023.
On the podcast, Saina said, “I had stopped playing two years back. I actually felt that I entered the sport on my own terms and left on my own terms, so there was no need to announce it."
The former world No 1 explained that a severe degeneration of her knee made sustained high-intensity training impossible. The 35-year-old Arjuna Awardee said, “If you are not capable of playing anymore, that’s it. It’s fine.”
She elaborated: "Your cartilage has totally degenerated, you have arthritis, that's what my parents needed to know that, my coaches needed to know that, and I just told them, 'Now probably I can't do it anymore, it is difficult'.”
She reiterated that she did not believe that there was a need for a formal retirement announcement.
Saina added that her time was up because she couldn’t push herself further: “Slowly, people will also realise that Saina is not playing.” A year ago, she had said that the career of a sports person has short life.
Saina sustained a career-threatening knee injury during the Rio 2016 Olympics. Despite the strong comeback in 2017 to claim World Championships bronze, the star shuttler failed to maintain her performance due to recurring knee issues.