Published: January 20, 2026 at 3:38 pm
Saina Nehwal, who announced her retirement from badminton on Monday, was the face of women’s badminton in the country. The Hisar-born and Hyderabad-settled Saina had the distinction of breaching the Chinese wall with her exploits. She forced the Chinese shuttlers to look at her in awe and respect, such was her prowess on the shuttle court.
Saina had literally ended the Chinese domination in women’s badminton. She broke China’s domination and became the first Indian to win a major title like the China Open Super Series. She had consistently challenged Chinese players and proved that they were not invincible.
Saina’s retirement ends an era in Indian badminton. Saina was to badminton what Sania Mirza was to tennis. Both the Hyderabad players were trailblazers and paved the way for others to follow. There have been many accomplished women players before Saina, but none could match her exploits on the field. She literally tamed the Chinese dragons and carved a niche for herself in the world of badminton. She had gone where no other Indian shuttler had gone before her.
Saina with her parents Harvir Singh Nehwal and Usha Nehwal
Saina does it on her own terms
On Monday, the legendary shuttler, formally, called it quits. “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, who will turn 36 in March, said on a podcast hosted by Subhojit Ghosh.
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She has been out of action for nearly two years due to a chronic knee condition. The London 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist last played a competitive match at the Singapore Open in 2023.
The former world No. 1 said the decision was forced by severe degeneration of cartilage in her knees, which made sustained high-intensity training impossible. “Your cartilage has totally degenerated, you have arthritis… I just told them, ‘Now probably I can’t do it anymore, it is difficult’,” she said, referring to discussions with her parents and coaches.
Saina added that her body could no longer cope with the demands of top-tier badminton, prompting her to step away. “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 revealed.
Saina Nehwal was the first Indian woman to become World No.1 and only the second shuttler after the legendary Prakash Padukone to reach the peak
Saina shot to fame at 15 by defeating Popat
All of 15, Saina won an Asian Satellite tournament in New Delhi in 2005. She defeated none other than Aparna Popat in the final in straight games to make people notice her. When she was 16, she became the first Indian woman and the youngest player from Asia to win the Philippines Open, a 4-star tournament.
The Hisar-born shuttler rose to prominence on the international circuit in 2008 when she became the junior world champion and became the first Indian woman to make the quarterfinals in singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
In 2009, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title by clinching the Indonesia Open and a year later, she became a Commonwealth Games champion. At the 2012 London Olympic Games, the Hyderabad shuttler became India’s first Olympic medallist in badminton, winning bronze in women’s singles after reaching the semifinals.
In the following years, Saina continued with her ascendency. She went from strength to strength and in 2015, she became the World No. 1 in singles rankings, establishing herself as the first Indian woman to achieve the feat and only the second shuttler from the country after Prakash Padukone to reach the peak. She also became the first shuttler from the country to reach the final of the BWF World Championships in the same year but had to settle for a silver after losing to Spaniard Carolina Marin.
Saina Nehwal slowed down considerably after knee injuries took a toll on her body
Injuries take a toll on Saina
However, injuries began to slow her down. Years of going through the grind was now beginning to take a toll of her body. Knee injuries troubled her career especially after the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
Yet the fighter wouldn’t give up so easily. She fought her way back to be among the top players. She won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships and clinched the gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. However, she slowed down considerably after that and was a pale shadow of herself. With PV Sindhu rising up rapidly, Saina had to concede ground to her fellow Hyderabad shuttler.
Saina, who had been training at the Gopichand Badminton Academy, had fallen out with chief coach Pullela Gopichand and moved away to Bengaluru in 2014. She joined the Prakash Padukone Badminton academy and trained under former India player Vimal Kumar. It was during that period that she went on to become the World No.1. However, she made peace with Gopichand and returned to train under him in 2017.
In his book ‘Dreams of a Billion: India and the Olympic Games’, Gopichand said that he felt miserable when she left him and went to train in Bengaluru. Such was the bond between the coach and his ward.
Saina has also won every major National award, including the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award. She also had a biopic made on her life titled Saina, which was released in 2021.
