Saina Nehwal may miss competitive action for four months

Hyderabad: Saina Nehwal, who underwent a knee surgery at a Mumbai hospital, is likely to be out of action for four months in a big setback for the badminton star, her father Harvir Singh said today.

He said doctors who performed the procedure, have advised her rest for three to four months.

"We have requested them (the doctors of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital) to allow us to go to Hyderabad (her hometown) so that we can do it (medical follow-up) there. Otherwise she cannot move for four months at all", Singh told PTI.

Asked specifically if it meant that Saina would be out of competitive action for four months and return to courts only in January, he said: "Yes. It's really a big setback (for her). It depends on how fast she recovers".

Singh said the surgery was performed yesterday and since they were in ther hospital they were busy throughout with her doctor, they could not watch P V Sindhu's Olympic final on television.

"We could not see it. Through newspapers, we came to know she (Sindhu) played well. Really very excellent that from Hyderabad, one (Saina in London Olympics) is a bronze medallist and another (Sindhu) is a silver medallist.

"It's really a wonderful thing that two girls from the same city and from the same academy (Gopichand) have come out as medal winners in Olympics," he said.

Saina, the former world number one, had made an early exit from the Rio Olympics.

She had lost in the group stage after suffering a straight game defeat against Ukraine's Marija Ulitina in the second match. She later revealed that she had a inflammation on her right knee.

Singh said: "It (inflammation on her right knee) was (there) earlier. It got aggravated in Rio".