During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, on 5 December 1971, Tambay's husband Vijay Vasant Tambay, Flight Lieutenant of Indian Army was captured as the enemy by Pakistan Army. Consequently, Tambay had taken several initiatives to bring back her husband along with the other 46 war prisoners, but was not successful and the official standpoint of Indian Army was that all the missing personnel died. By 1971, Damayanti Tambay had won three consecutive National women's singles. But she announced her retirement in 1971, at the age of 23 after her husband got captured in the The missing 54 incident of 1971 Indo-Pak war taking the vow that she would not resume her career in Badminton unless she gets her husband back or receives the confirmed news that her husband was dead.