Saina Nehwal may miss Birmingham 2022 after missing skipping the trials ©Getty Images

Two-time women's singles champion Saina Nehwal may not be able to defend her title at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games after informing the Badminton Association of India (BAI) that she was skipping the selection trials for the competition.

At the BAI trials which finished yesterday, Aakarshi Kashyap and Priyanshu Rajawat won the women's and men's singles events to book their spots on the team at upcoming major competitions.

Aakarshi has been selected for the Commonwealth Games, while Priyanshu could feature on the Asian Games or the Thomas Cup as other top men's players have already been selected.

On the women's side, PV Sindhu was automatically selected as she is inside the top 15 in the world rankings for women's singles.

Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy have been confirmed for the men's singles team, with the first two players also doing so by sitting inside the top 15 in the world.

Prannoy is ranked 23rd in the world and was given special exception for his "consistent performances" and victories over top players.

There is a maximum of one more spot on the women's singles team according to the Birmingham 2022 quota policy, but it is unclear if this will be filled.

Nehwal was critical of the BAI on Twitter, addressing the issue of her withdrawal.

PV Sindhu has qualified for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games for India ©Getty Images
PV Sindhu has qualified for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games for India ©Getty Images

"Surprised to see all the articles stating that I don't want to defend my Commonwealth Games title and my Asian Games medal. 

"I'm just not participating in the trials because I just got back from three weeks of Europe events and according to the schedule there's Asian Championships in two weeks time.

"As a senior player to participate in back to back events nonstop is impossible and it's risking injuries, such short notice is not possible. 

"I've conveyed this to BAI but there has been no response from them.

"It seems like they're happy to put me out of Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. 

"I wish we had better understanding about how to manage a schedule and not announce events with 10 days notice. 

"I'm world number 23 currently and I almost beat the world number one Akane [Yamaguchi] in All England.

"One loss at India Open and BAI tries to pull me down, shocking."

Yamaguchi, who is actually world number two, defeated Nehwal 21-14, 17-21, 21-17 in the last 16 of the All England Open.

Nehwal has not won two matches at a tournament since March 2021, after making the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters before losing to eventual runner-up Line Christophersen of Denmark.