BWF India Open | Saina Nehwal pulls out failing to recover from intestinal problem

BWF India Open | Saina Nehwal pulls out failing to recover from intestinal problem

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India’s title contender for the India Open from the women’s singles category was reduced to just one after Saina Nehwal revealed that she had to pull out of India Open owing to acute gastroenteritis. The 29-year-old Olympic bronze medalist had previously won the title four years back in 2015.

Nehwal had first started experiencing the acute gastroenteritis and mild pancreatitis problem ahead of the All England Championships but decided to play through it. Consequently, the condition worsened as she had to withdraw from the Swiss Open last week and was hospitalized. 

However, she wasn’t expected to pull out of the Super 500 tournament, which is scheduled to begin next Tuesday. Now, PTI has reported that she informed the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Wednesday this week about her decision to skip the $350,000 tournament on medical grounds. 

"She has not been well since the All England Championship. She sent the letter to withdraw citing stomach pain," a BAI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

On her social media account, Nehwal had posted, “So some sad news was really going through acute stomach pain from last Monday... managed to play few matches in All England with lot of pain ... decided to skip Swiss open and come back to India and find out the issue… and I found out it's acute gastroenteritis with mild pancreatitis and the doctors have recommended me to get admitted and hopefully I recover soon out of it."

With Saina now out of the Indian contingent for the tournament, India’s biggest contender from the women’s singles category would be former champion PV Sindhu. However, after the World No.6 lost to Sung Ji Hyun in the round of 32 of the All England Championships, fans wouldn’t want to keep their hopes high.

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