Lucknow, December 20: It came as no surprise that Saina Nehwal chose to make only a token appearance at the Syed Modi International Grand Prix at the BBD Academy on Wednesday. After 29 minutes of uninspired play, she clutched her right knee and conceded her opening match against Ksenia Polikarpova of Russia on matchpoint, leading 21-17, 20-18, much to the surprise and disappointment of all present.
"My physio had told me that I should not put too much pressure on my knee. I was playing well but suddenly I felt some problem in the knee, so I decided to quit. Even when I was playing at the Super Series Finals, I was playing with a taped knee. I have been facing this problem since then. This could have aggravated if I had continued. So, I decided to back out," Saina said.
Last year too, the ace shuttler had pulled out this event at the last minute citing fatigue.
The TOI had reported on Wednesday that the world No. 3 wasn't eager at all to play here after having spent plenty of energy and effort at the Super Series Finals at Shenzen, China. There, she lost a tough 20-22, 7-21, 13-21 semifinal battle against Li Xuerui, the Olympic champion. That match on last Saturday had lasted 51 minutes. Apart from Xuerui, she played against top names like Juliane Schenk and Tine Baun in Shenzen.
Saina, on the eve of the Modi tournament, had said that she was fatigued by the tough schedule and was not enthusiastic about playing here. "She has had a long season, but personally I would have loved to see her in action here. But as the players give their entries a month in advance, that time they may be enthusiastic and confident that they can compete. But a day before the actual event, their body may not allow them to play," P Gopichand, Saina's coach, said.
According to sources, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) bosses had put pressure on Saina on Tuesday night to make an appearance even if it was for just a few minutes. With BAI president Akhilesh Das and secretary general Vijai Sinha, both hailing from Lucknow, they were eager that the tournament id not lose its biggest star even before it started. Thus a 'compromise' of sorts was reached and Saina took to the court only to witdraw soon.
The BAI officials present in the stadium, though, didn't take Saina's decision too well. "Someone had booked her tickets from Hyderabad for Wednesday afternoon. If she did not want to play due to whatever reason, why did she come to Lucknow at all? It is a disaster for the tournament that the top seed and star attraction goes out on the first day," a BAI official said.
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