What's the story?
Following her first round defeat at the Malaysia Open Superseries Premier last week, 2010 champion Saina Nehwal has pulled out of this week's $350,000 OUE Singapore Open that is scheduled to be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from April 11-16.
According to The Straits Times, the World No. 9 has had to withdraw due to injury although the exact nature of her injury has not been specified.
Saina was supposed to start her campaign against a qualifier and the 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist has now been replaced by the Korean World No. 37 Kim Hyo Min.
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Nehwal, who lost to the eventual champion PV Sindhu in the India Open quarter-finals, squandered a one-game advantage to crash to a first round exit at the Malaysia Open last week.
The former World No. 1 was in control of her match against the fourth seed and then-World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi and even led 11-8 at the interval in the second game. But the match turned on its head on resumption as the Japanese came charging back and Nehwal had no answer and ultimately slumped to a 21-19, 13-21, 15-21 loss.
The heart of the matter
Saina will not be the only big absentee at the Singapore Open this year. Olympic men's singles champion Chen Long too won't be seen in action at Singapore. The Chinese suffered a right wrist injury in Malaysia and was forced to give his opponent a walkover in the quarter-finals. In his absence, the India Open champion Viktor Axelsen will now be seeded second.
What's next?
The next tournament for Nehwal is the Badminton Asia Championships to be held in Wuhan from April 25-30.
Author's Take
Having played for two weeks in a row at two of the biggest events on the tour, Nehwal is definitely looking for some much-needed rest as she doesn’t want to put too much stress on her knee. And that could be the real reason for her withdrawal.
With the continental championships coming up at the end of this month, Saina’s fitness is of utmost concern as she will be one of the principal figures to lead the Indian team.
Even without Saina, the Indian contingent is still strong enough and will hope to bounce back from a disappointing Malaysia Open campaign. All eyes will now be on the World No. 2 PV Sindhu, who will be desperate to erase her opening round shock defeat from last week and start off things on a more positive note in Singapore.
