What’s the story?
Indian shuttle queen Saina Nehwal has withdrawn from this week’s Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold that is scheduled to be held in Basel from March 14 to 19. The 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist was the top seed in the women’s singles section.
Nehwal made it to the quarter-finals of the prestigious All England Championships last week where she narrowly lost to the third seed Sung Ji-Hyun of Korea, 20-22, 20-22.
In case you didn’t know...
Saina Nehwal has had great success at the Swiss Open in the past and is a two-time winner of this tournament. In 2011, she beat Sung Ji-Hyun of Korea for the title and then came back the very next year to successfully defend it. In 2012, she prevailed over the former World No. 1 Wang Shixian in the summit clash.
The heart of the matter
Since undergoing a knee surgery in September last year, the Indian badminton ace has understandably been careful with her scheduling in 2017. She has been cautious about having a considerable rest period after every tournament where she has progressed deep into the draw.
Saina’s pull-out has left only one Indian in the women’s singles draw – 19-year-old Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli.
In men’s singles section, however, quite a few Indians will be gunning for the title that includes the defending champion HS Prannoy, Indian No. 1 Ajay Jayaram as well as the Verma brothers, Sourabh and Sameer.
What’s next?
The Hyderabad player's next tournament is the India Open Superseries that is to be held in New Delhi from March 28 to April 2. She won the tournament in 2015 that catapulted her to the pinnacle of the world rankings.
Sportskeeda’s Take
After participating in the second season of the Premier Badminton League in India and then winning the Malaysia Masters in January, the Indian took a month off to focus on her rehabilitation and to gear up for the Superseries circuit.
The hiatus did her a world of good as was evident from her brilliant on-court movement at Birmingham. She has taken the right decision to give herself another break before she embarks on the hectic Asian swing that starts with the India Open at the end of this month.
