Saina Nehwal takes first step to recovery, watch video

Saina Nehwal was one of India’s medal contenders in the Olympics and a favourite to win gold. But she was defeated  21-18, 21-19 by World No. 61, Ulitina. Throughout the match, she had a heavy strapping on and struggled in movement.

The injury was sustained in training 10 days before coming to Rio, and while Nehwal’s support staff attempted to patch her back into playing shape, the recovery wasn’t fast enough, and it got aggravated in Rio. Soon after the match, Saina was admitted and underwent a surgery.

“It happened just before the Olympic Games. I tried my best, but movements were not smooth. My movement was painful from the start of the Olympics. She played well no doubt, but I couldn’t move at all,” she told the press soon after the match.

Running first day all thanks to Heath Matthews physio for the knee rehab program 😀😀👍

A video posted by Nehwalsaina (@nehwalsaina) on Oct 8, 2016 at 6:42am PDT

Saina’s defeat in the Olympics, though, was overshadowed by the success of PV Sindhu, who returned with a silver medal for the country.