Explaining her decision, Sawant told MiD DAY: “I have been through hell during the court case that I had with P Gopichand. When the court case was on nobody was ready to play with me.

Only Jwala Gutta (her women’s doubles partner) came forward to support me. With the matter solved, even V Diju wants to play with me now. But I have lost faith in BAI. All Indian players (male and female) are influenced by Gopichand. So I decided not to play with them.”