Saina Nehwal Announces Retirement After Two-Year Injury Struggle, Says, 'I can’t push it anymore'

Indian badminton trailblazer Saina Nehwal has formally confirmed her retirement from competitive badminton, bringing down the curtain on a distinguished career that spanned nearly two decades.

The 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist, whose last competitive appearance was at the 2023 Singapore Open, revealed she has been out of action for the past two years due to a chronic knee condition that made elite-level training and competition untenable.

Saina Nehwal explained that her body simply could not withstand the rigours of top-flight badminton anymore, saying she “can’t do it anymore,” and that her cartilage has degenerated to the point where even a few hours of training causes severe swelling and discomfort.

“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,” Saina said on a podcast.

“If you are not capable of playing anymore, that’s it. It’s fine.” The former world No. 1 said the decision was forced by a severe degeneration of her knee, which made sustained high-intensity training impossible.

"Your cartiledge 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. Slowly people will also realise that Saina is not playing," she said.

A Career that Redefined Indian Badminton

Throughout her career, Saina Nehwal broke numerous barriers for Indian badminton players, becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in the sport and consistently competing at the world’s highest levels.

Her bronze at London 2012 and subsequent success, including medals at World Championships and Commonwealth Games, inspired a generation of shuttlers in a country traditionally dominated by cricket.

However, injuries, especially a serious knee issue at the Rio 2016 Olympics, significantly disrupted her momentum. Despite multiple comebacks, the chronic nature of her knee problems proved insurmountable, ultimately leading to this inevitable conclusion.

Saina said she felt no need for a formal retirement announcement, believing her long absence from tournaments had already spoken for itself. The Olympic medallist added that her knees could no longer cope with even light training, making the decision inevitable.

“I didn’t think it was such a big matter to announce my retirement. I just felt my time was up because I couldn’t push much, that my knee is not able to push like before,” she said.

"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,” she added.

Saina Nehwal's Career-Threatening Knee Injury

Saina’s career took a major hit after a serious knee injury at the Rio 2016 Olympics. While she returned strongly with a World Championships bronze in 2017 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2018, persistent knee problems kept resurfacing.

In 2024, she disclosed that she was dealing with arthritis and severe cartilage wear in her knees, leaving her unable to train at the intensity demanded by elite badminton.