Saina hopes to return by the end of next month

Her recovery from a knee injury going ahead smoothly, India’s star shuttler Saina Nehwal is hoping to return to the courts by the end of next month. “Not before end (of) October, so I will miss tournaments till that time. I am world No.8 at present, it may go down further,” Saina said. “We have already done six weeks of rehab and still five to six more weeks are to be put before I go to courts for practice”. The 26-year-old shuttler hopes to play tournaments scheduled for November if she is match-fit by then. “May be tournaments slated in November if everything goes well,” she said,. Her rehab programme, following a surgery to the right knee at a Mumbai hospital last month, has been going on smoothly, she said.