Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has confirmed her retirement from competitive badminton after a prolonged battle with a chronic knee condition that kept her sidelined for the last two years. The 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist said her body can no longer cope with the physical demands of elite sport. Her last professional appearance came at the 2023 Singapore Open, though she did not formally announce her retirement at the time.

“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.”

Saina explained that she decided to speak publicly after being diagnosed with severe degeneration of knee cartilage, which made sustained high-intensity training impossible.

“Your cartilage has totally degenerated, and you have arthritis. That’s what my parents and coaches needed to know,” she said. “I just told them, ‘Now, probably I can’t do it anymore. It is difficult.”

A knee injury had threatened her career during the 2016 Rio Olympics, but the 35-year-old staged a strong comeback, winning World Championship bronze in 2017 and Commonwealth Games gold in 2018. However, recurring knee problems continued to disrupt her progress. In 2024, she revealed she had arthritis and significant cartilage wear, making elite-level training extremely difficult.

Saina said she never felt the need for a formal retirement announcement, as her absence from competition spoke for itself.

“Slowly people will also realise that Saina is not playing,” she said. “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, my knee is not able to push like before.”