Singapore: Saina Nehwal pulled out of the $350,000 Singapore Super Series on Sunday, opting for closed-door training over on-court action to improve after her shock first round exit at Malaysia.
The 27-year-old said she would next play at the Asian Badminton Championship, at Wuhan in China later this month.
“Yes, I withdrew from the tournament as I feel I need some more time training to get better. There is improvement in the knee but I think some more training will help at this point,” Saina said.
“I will play the ABC next. I will also play the Indonesia Super Series and the Sudirman Cup.”
Saina won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold in January after recovering from a career-threatening knee injury but lost to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the opening round at the Malaysia Open last week.
P.V. Sindhu will look to put her first-round exit at Malaysia behind, which came after her win in the India Open.
The world no. 2 will face Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the opening round.
In men’s singles, B. Sai Praneeth meets Denmark’s Emil Holst. Ajay Jayaram faces fifth seeded China’s Shi Yuqi. Kidambi Srikanth takes on a qualifier. In men’s doubles, Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy face Japan’s third seeds Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda in the opening round. Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy meet Malaysia’s Yin Loo Lim and Yap Cheng in the women’s doubles first round.
