PV Sindhu retires from French Open second round match due to knee issue, shares update on social media

Double Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu was leading by a game before she conceded her French Open second round women’s singles match against Thailand’s Supanida Katethong due to a knee injury on Thursday. Sindhu pocketed the first game 21-18 and the second game was levelled at 1-1 scoreline before the Indian felt discomfort in her left knee at the Glaz Arena.

While returning a shot from Katethong, Sindhu stretched herself far too much, resulting to the injury to her left knee. Sindhu applied the magic spray and sought the tournament doctor’s help.

She later consulted her coach Hafiz Hashim twice and received a yellow card for that before deciding to concede the match to Katethong, who advanced to the quarterfinal.

Later on X (formerly Twitter), Sindhu wrote that she retired because she felt that was the “wise decision”.

“Tough decision to withdraw!! In the first set, I felt something wrong in my left knee but chose to continue to play. However, the pain started to linger,” she wrote. “I retired from the game because I felt that retiring was a wise decision to take a closer look at my knee and have my physio examine it.

Tough decision to withdraw!!

In the first set, I felt something wrong in my left knee but chose to continue to play. However, the pain started to linger.

I retired from the game because I felt that retiring was a wise decision to take a closer look at my knee and have my physio… pic.twitter.com/nCBAG81edn

— Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) October 26, 2023

“I have always taken pride in my career to use minimal medical breaks or injury timeouts. However, I chose to respect my body. Please don’t reach out asking for an update as I don’t have any right now.”

Earlier this week, the ace Indian shuttler had returned to the top 10 of BWF world rankings after nearly six months on the back of her four semifinal finishes.

With PTI inputs