Saina Nehwal refuses to play on uneven surface at Senior nationals

Olympic bronze-medallist Saina, who had suffered a shin injury late last year, took the court after Sameer Verma conceded his men's singles tie following an achilles heels problem during his match

Controversy erupted at the Senior National Badminton Championship yesterday with defending champion Saina Nehwal refusing to play her singles match, citing a poor playing surface at the venue here.

Olympic bronze-medallist Saina, who had suffered a shin injury late last year, took the court after Sameer Verma conceded his men's singles tie following an achilles heels problem during his match.

Up against Shruti Mundada in the pre-quarters, Saina had a look at the surface and made it clear that she won't risk playing on it given that the All England Championship was around the corner.

The officials, led by Badminton Association of India Secretary, Omar Rashid, swung into action to sort out the issue. The BAI officials later convinced Saina, Kashyap and Sai Praneeth to play in the evening. "The wooden planks came out at a couple of places after Sindhu played. So they are now going to fix it. We will come back in the evening to play our pre-quarterfinal matches," Saina's husband and fellow player Parupalli Kashyap said. Earlier, PV beat Malvika Bansod in the pre-quarters tie.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!