Saina Nehwal to miss China Open Superseries

World No. 3 shuttler and London Olympics Bronze Medalist Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the China Open scheduled to start in the second week of November as she feels that she has to give rest to her right knee which is posing some discomfort now. After playing 10 matches (370 minutes) in 12 days in the Denmark and French Opens, a tired Saina Nehwal has withdrawn from the Li Ning China Open in Shanghai which will begin from November 13 and end on November 18.

In an interview Saina said, “I was not fully fit before the 2 European Tournaments. I could play only 85% of my game at either tournament. When I look back, it just seems amazing, winning a big tournament like Denmark Premier and reaching final of French Open the next week”. The Semifinal win over World No. 1 Wang Yihan in Denmark Open Superseries Premier is something which I will remember for a long time, though she conceded the match in the second game because of an injury,” said Saina.

She will be back in the circuit for the Hong Kong Open which will start from Nov 20. Saina will also skip the Macau Open, a Grand Prix Gold tournament, at Macau from November 27 to December 2 and will return to action in the BWF Superseries Finals in Shenzhen, China, (December 12 to 16). Meanwhile, the China Open will see the return of the second highest ranked Indian player, PV Sindhu. Sindhu, who recently defeated World no. 2 and London Olympics Gold Medalist Xuerui Li of China, is currently the World No. 25 player and will face World no. 14 Eriko Hirose of Japan in the first round.

Also returning to competition is London Games men’s singles quarterfinalist Kashyap. Kashyap, who missed the Denmark and French Open, will face Swedish Shuttler Henri Hurskainen in the first round. Another Indian Shuttler Ajay Jayaram will face the French Open Superseries winner Daren Liew of Malaysia in the first round.