Nehwal pulls out of Premier Badminton League

Saina Nehwal will not be part of the upcoming Indian Badminton Premier League season.

The 29-year-old shuttler announced via twitter on Sunday that she needs to recover after a difficult year that has seen her hampered by a series of injuries as well as a bout of pancreatitis.

The fifth edition of the PBL is scheduled to start next month.

A painful season

2019 has been a difficult year for Saina Nehwal.

It started off full of promise, reaching the semi-finals at her season-opening Malaysia Masters before winning the Indonesian Masters last January as her final opponent Carolina Marin was forced to retire through injury.

But since that triumph, Nehwal has had to contend with problems heaped upon problems.

In March, the Olympic bronze medallist revealed that she was suffering from acute gastroenteritis couple with mild pancreatitis.

That led to surgical intervention and an enforced layoff from the BWF Tour.

It was April when Nehwal returned to the court at the Malaysia Open, but since then has had little to cheer about.

Hampered by the after affects of her illness - as well as a series of niggling injuries to her ankle, hip and wrist - the world number nine has struggled to build a run of results.

She has managed to reach the quarter finals of a competition a few times - most recently at the French Open - but has also suffered five first round exits.

More luck in Lucknow?

After such a difficult spell, Nehwal has now decided that a break over the December-January period will help her recuperate for 2020, the year of the Olympics in Tokyo.

However, the shuttler will still be competing on the BWF Tour for the remainder of this season, and should hopefully be in action in front of her home fans at the Syed Modi International Championships in Lucknow which begins on Monday.

Nehwal, who is seeded third for the tournament, has been drawn against England's Chloe Birch in the opening round.