A point away from win, Saina concedes match
India's top singles badminton player Saina Nehwal, the world No.3, pulled out of the Syed Modi International Indian GP Gold event citing a knee injury when she was a point away from winning the first round game against Russia's Ksemia Polikarpova.
Saina had won the first game 21-17 and was leading 20-18 in the second after which she informed the chair umpire that she was conceding the match. Saina said that she had first experienced the pain in her right knee in August and had to play the Denmark Open with a strapping around the joint.
"I decided to play here even though my knee was hurting because it was in India. At times there is a shooting pain and today I didn't want to take further risk," Saina said later.
The signs of her withdrawal were visible on Tuesday itself as Saina had hinted that it was unlikely that she would be at her best because she had a "little knee injury."
After conceding the game Saina consulted the tournament doctor and then was taken to the sports injury and rehabilitation centre at the venue where she was given physiotherapy for 15 minutes. Though she won the first game, Saina seemed to lack intensity and in the second game the Russian drew level on scores on more than one occasion.
Saina refused to comment on whether she had been pressured to play the tournament. Incidentally, the president of the Badminton Association of India Akhilesh Das Gupta is from Lucknow. "I won
Saina's fan
lee | 20-Dec-2012Reply | Forward Well, she won the match due to her physical fitness, if she could not outrun the chinese in her game, she outdid her in the fitness department, so it was not luck. Moreover, it was not Li Xuerui but Wang Xin that she was facing. Xuerui won the gold eventually.Why ???????????
Naresh | 20-Dec-2012Reply | Forward Only a point away from win. You would have done it Saina........
Lewt Sania honestly answer
Paddy Singh | 20-Dec-2012Reply | Forward Match fixed? Or is something personal? I don't believe that for another point she was putting pressure on her knee. At this rate she will never be No 1 in the world.
