Knee Surgery May Keep Saina Nehwal Out Of Action For 4 Months

India’s badminton star Saina Nehwal will be out for 4 months from competitive action because of knee surgery.

Saina Nehwal. (Photo: AP)

Saina Nehwal, who underwent a knee surgery at a Mumbai hospital, is likely to be out of action for four months in a big setback for the badminton star, her father Harvir Singh said on Saturday.

He said doctors who performed the procedure, have advised her rest for three to four months.

We have requested them (the doctors of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital) to allow us to go to Hyderabad (her hometown) so that we can do it (medical follow-up) there. Otherwise she cannot move for four months at all. 

Harvir Singh, Saina Nehwal’s Father

Asked specifically if it meant that Saina would be out of competitive action for four months and return to courts only in January, he said: “Yes. It’s really a big setback (for her). It depends on how fast she recovers”.

Harvir Singh also talked about why he and his family couldn’t watch PV Sindhu’s final match on Friday.

We could not see it. Through newspapers, we came to know she (Sindhu) played well. Really very excellent that from Hyderabad, one (Saina in London Olympics) is a bronze medallist and another (Sindhu) is a silver medallist. It’s really a wonderful thing that two girls from the same city and from the same academy have come out as medal winners in Olympics.

India’s PV Sindhu reacts after receiving the silver medal at Rio Olympics. (Photo: PTI)

Saina, the former world number one, had made an early exit from the Rio Olympics. She had lost in the group stage after suffering a straight game defeat against Ukraine’s Marija Ulitina in the second match. She later revealed that she had a inflammation on her right knee. Singh said: “It (inflammation on her right knee) was (there) earlier. It got aggravated in Rio”.