Saina and rest of Indian squad leave for Thailand
By IANS| Published: 3rd January 2021 6:35 pm IST
New Delhi, Jan 3 : The Indian badminton team and support staff left for Thailand on Sunday to compete in two back-to-back BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournaments and the BWF World Tour Finals. The team includes Olympic hopefuls Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth while world champion P.V. Sindhu will be travelling from England where she has been training since October.
The first Thailand Open will be held from January 12 to 17 while the second is scheduled for January 19 to 24. The World Tour Finals then starts on January 27 and will end on January 31.
Lakshya Sen file image | Special arrangement
Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen has pulled out of this month’s consecutive tournaments in Thailand due to a back strain that he sustained during training.
The 19-year-old, who claimed five titles in the senior circuit in 2019 including two BWF World Tour Super 100 top honours, has been advised rest by doctors after he suffered a back injury.
“Unfortunately, Lakshya will not be able to play the two events in Thailand due to a slight back strain that he suffered during training,” PPBA Director and former India coach Vimal Kumar told PTI.
Thailand will host two Super 1000 events between January 12-17 and January 19-24. Sen, a silver medallist from the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, will not be able to participate even in the second event because of the quarantine protocols.