Premier Badminton League: Fearing injury, Saina Nehwal opts out of first tie

Indian badminton’s poster girl and Awadhe Warriors icon player Saina Nehwal on Saturday withdrew from the first match of the re-christened Premier Badminton League (PBL) fearing injury.

Saina’s pullout came as a big disappointment to her fans here, who had turned out at the NSCI to witness the World No. 2 shuttler in action for the only time in the league stage. News of her pullout spread after the schedule of play didn’t feature her name and Vrushali G was drawn in her place against Mumbai Rockets’ Ruthvika Shivani Gadde in women’s singles.

The London Olympics bronze medallist had sustained an Achilles tendon injury in her right leg during the BWF Super Series Finals in Dubai recently and was prescribed two weeks rest by her physio.

However, the 25-year-old is yet to fully recover from it and as a precautionary measure decided to give herself some more rest. Interestingly, the ace shuttler represented her side during the toss with Rockets’ Mathias Boe.

“Last couple of weeks, I had a foot injury. I am on the verge of recovery but I am trying to play little bit safe. I am not playing today but I will be cheering for my team. This is the first time I will be sitting and watching somebody else play,” Saina said in a TV interview prior to the start of the match.

Warriors’ $100,000 buy, though, was optimistic of competing in the remaining matches of the Lucknow-based franchise. Awadhe Warriors will face Delhi Acers on home soil in their next match scheduled on Monday. “Thank you all for coming today. I hope to recover soon and hopefully you will see me play in the remaining four games,” said the 2015 World Championship silver medallist.