The 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist last played a competitive badminton match at the 2023 Singapore Open and had not officially announced her retirement until Monday, when, during a podcast, the ace shuttler mentioned that she had left the court on her own terms and \u201cthere was no need to announce it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWell played, Saina! Congratulations on an incredible career. You pushed Indian badminton forward and inspired a generation. Wishing you the very best for what's next,\u201d Yuvraj wrote on X, congratulating the badminton ace on a remarkable career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Nehwal revealed that a degeneration of cartilage in her knees forced her to take the tough call after discussions with her family and coaches, stating, \u201cYour cartilage has totally degenerated, you have arthritis\u2026 I just told them, \u2018Now probably I can\u2019t do it anymore, it is difficult.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Nehwal mentioned that her body could no longer handle the strain of elite badminton, leading her to retire. \u201cYou train eight to nine hours to be the best in the world. Now,, my knees would give outut in one or two hours. It was swelling, and it became very tough to push after that. So I thought it was enough. I can\u2019t push it anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The shuttler from Hisar gained international recognition in 2008 by winning the junior world championship and making history as the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In2009, she made history as the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series tournament by securing the Indonesia Open. A year later, she achieved the status of a Commonwealth Games champion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The shuttler from Hisar gained international recognition in 2008 by winning the junior world championship and making history as the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In 2015, she achieved a historic milestone by becoming the world No. 1 in singles badminton rankings, making her the first Indian woman to do so and only the second Indian shuttler, after Prakash Padukone, to reach the top. That year, she also reached the final of the BWF World Championships, being the first from India to do so, but took home silver after losing to Carolina Marin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n