#CoronaScare threatens to shatter Indian shuttlers’ Olympic dreams

The coronavirus outbreak has cast a dark shadow on Indian shuttlers’ Olympic dreams. A slew of international badminton championships have been postponed and the future of Indian Open, Malaysian Open and Singapore Open hangs in the balance. Sadly, the latest travel advisory issued by India’s Ministry of Health (see box), has only
compounded the players’ woes. India’s badminton contingent, which is currently in the UK for the All England Open, is a worried lot.

Ruing that their chances of qualifying for Tokyo

Olympics

will be destroyed if upcoming tournaments are cancelled, Commonwealth Games gold medallist

Parupalli Kashyap

wrote to Union Health Minister Dr Harshvardhan. Though the UK is not part of the list of countries mentioned in the advisory, the players had travelled to Spain for the Barcelona Masters, which was held between February 18-23.

“We are not sure if we are going to be quarantined for two weeks now. If we get quarantined upon arrival in India, we cannot play in the Swiss Open and India Open,” says a worried

Sai Praneeth

. Kashyap adds, “For now, some of us have decided to go to Switzerland directly so that we can take part in the Swiss Open. Some of the players, especially Saina Nehwal, have a good chance to qualify for the Olympics, so we don’t want to give that up.”

BWF is not taking a stand; looks like they’re waiting for us to get infected: Kashyap
Indian players at the All England Badminton Open include Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, PV Sindhu, Srikanth Kidambi, Sikki Reddy, Ashwini Ponappa, Lakshya Sen and Pranaav Jerry Chopra. Except Sindhu, all players have been knocked out of the tournament. for players like Saina, Srikanth and Kashyap, performing well in upcoming tournaments is crucial to ensure a berth in the Olympics.

The shuttlers are particularly unhappy with the lack of clarity on the upcoming events by the

Badminton World Federation

(BWF). Expressing his dismay over BWF’s unwillingness to extend the cut-off date for Olympic qualification, Kashyap lashes out, “It’s a very tough situation for us players ’cos those of us who are so close to qualifying for Olympics have no option but to play despite the risk. The BWF is not taking a stand; they’re just cancelling events. We just found out that the Singapore Open has been cancelled and there is no clarity on whether the Indian Open and Malaysian Open will go ahead as scheduled. Why can’t they extend the cut off date? It looks like they’re just waiting for us to get infected.”

Players coming from the UK will not be quarantined: BAI officials

Badminton Association of India

(BAI), meanwhile, assures that players returning to India from the UK will not be affected. Speaking to Hyderabad Times, MK Singh, Assistant Secretary, BAI, says, “The players will go through thorough screening, but will not be put under a two-week quarantine as UK is not one of the countries mentioned in the travel advisory.” BAI officials, however, are yet to give clarity about the Indian Open, which is scheduled to take place from March 24 to 29. China Masters, Vietnam International Challenge, German Open and Polish Open have already been postponed, putting the Indian shuttlers’ qualification chances at risk. “We are in consultation with the central government and health ministry. We will take a decision based on their advise. Obviously we want the tournament to take place but the safety of the players and public is of primary importance, so there are chances of the tournament getting postponed. We will make an informed decision soon,” MK Singh adds.