In controversial circumstances, India's Olympic bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal "retired" on match point from the women's singles first round at the K.L. Garg-Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament at the Babu Banarsi Das Stadium here Wednesday.

The 22-year-old was on match-point (21-17, 20-18) against Russian Ksenia Polikarpova when surprisingly she held her knee and told the referee she could not continue.