Saina, Prannoy and Kashyap withdraw fromThailand Open

Harpal Singh Bedi

Jan 12, 2021

New Delhi, 12 January : Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Tuesday confirmed that ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal and HS Pronnoy have tested positive for COVID-19 in Bangkok where they had gone to take part in Yonex Thailand Open.
.
BAI in a statement said the two members of the Indian squad, which travelled to Bangkok to participate in the Yonex Thailand Open followed by Toyota Thailand Open, had tested negative during the first two tests that were conducted earlier.

However, Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and HS Pronnoy were tested positive during the third test, which was done on Monday.

“We are constantly in touch with the BWF as well as the organisers and our team management and players. These are unprecedented times but BWF is doing everything to ensure full support to our players including their safety,” BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania said.

After testing positive, both the players have been taken to the hospital to be isolated for a minimum period 10 days. While, Parupalli Kashyap has also withdrawn from the tournament and is quarantined in his hotel room due to close proximity with Nehwal.

“According to the guidelines and safety norms, these three players will not be participating in the tournament. However, all other players have been allowed to participate but they have to play without the presence of coaches and support staff as per the safety protocols,” Singhania added.

Saina Nehwal, however was quoted as saying that she is yet to receive her report and it was only before the warm up for her Tuesday’s match that she was informed of the result of the test.

“I still didn’t receive the Covid test report from yesterday it’s very confusing and today just before the warm up for the match they tell me to get to hospital in Bangkok … saying that I m positive according to rules the report should come in four hours” tweeted Saina.

Meanwhile world champion PV Sindhu suffered a first round defeat in the Thailand Open as she lost to Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt . 21-16, 24-26, 13-21 in a match that lasted 74 minutes.

In the men section Sai Praneeth crashed out after going down 16-21, 10-21 to world No. 15 Kantaphon Wangcharoenurrent world champion PV Sindhu crashed out in the opening round of the Thailand Open after losing to Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt on Tuesday. Sixth-seeded Sindhu lost 21-16, 24-26, 13-21 in 74 minutes.

Meanwhile, world championship bronze medallist Sai Praneeth was also knocked out in the first round of the tournament after suffering a 16-21, 10-21 defeat to world No. 15 Kantaphon Wangcharoen. The match lasted just over half an hour.
–India News Stream