India’s star shuttler Saina Nehwal has confirmed her retirement from international badminton. The knee injury she suffered at the Rio 2016 Olympics had a significant impact on her career. In 2024, she revealed that she has arthritis and the cartilage in her knees has worn out.

India’s star shuttler Saina Nehwal has confirmed her retirement from competitive badminton, she revealed on 19 January, 2026 that due to a long-standing knee problem she was unable to meet the physical demands of this elite sport.
The knee injury suffered at the Rio 2016 Olympics had a significant impact on her career.
Although she made a शानदार comeback by winning a bronze medal at the World Championship in 2017 and a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, the recurring problems remained.
In 2024, she revealed that she has arthritis and the cartilage in her knees has worn out.

About Saina Nehwal

Born in Hisar, Haryana, this shuttler gained international recognition after becoming the Junior World Champion in 2008 and became the first Indian woman to reach the quarter-finals in singles badminton at the Olympics (Beijing 2008).
In 2009, she became the first Indian to win a BWF Super Series title by winning the Indonesia Open and a year later, she became the Commonwealth Games champion.
In London 2012, Saina became India’s first Olympic medalist in badminton, winning a bronze medal in women’s singles after reaching the semi-finals.
In 2015, she created history by becoming world number 1 in the singles badminton ranking, becoming the first Indian woman to achieve this feat and the country’s second shuttler after Prakash Padukone to reach this milestone.
Saina has also won every major national award including Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award. A biopic named ‘Saina’ was also made on her life, which was released in 2021.