NEW DELHI, May 6: London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal and men’s star Kidambi Srikanth’s last hopes of Olympic qualification hang in balance as the Indian government negotiates for their participation in the Malaysian Open amid a ban on flights from India in that country.
Following the postponement of the India Open (May 11-16), Saina and Srikanth’s hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Games hinge on the (May 25-30) Kuala Lumpur event followed by the Singapore Open (June 1-6).
In the wake of an unprecedented COVID-19 surge in India, Malaysia and Singapore have banned flights from the country effective April 28.
Malaysia Open postponed due to surge in COVID-19 cases
07 May 2021, 19:55 GMT+10
New Delhi [India], May 7 (ANI): The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) have jointly agreed to postpone the Malaysia Open 2021, scheduled for May 25-30. As per a release on the BWF website, all attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants, but the recent surge in cases left no choice but to postpone the tournament. The Malaysia Open 2021 is a Super 750 event on the BWF World Tour and was originally scheduled as an Olympic qualifying tournament. BWF can confirm the rescheduled tournament will no longer take place in the Olympic qualifying window. New tournament dates will be confirmed at a later date. Earlier on Thursday, the Indian Sports Ministry, through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), had approached the Malaysian government requesting for permission for the Indian badminton team to travel t
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Saina, Srikanth s Tokyo hopes hang in balance due to travel restrictions ahead of Malaysian Open
Saina Nehwal is currently 22nd in the Race to Tokyo rankings.
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images for Falcon
Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth s chances of qualifying for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics hang in the balance with the Sports Ministry seeking a waiver of the travel ban from India to Malaysia. The Malaysian Open is scheduled from May 25 to May 30 and is almost the last chance for these two players to qualify for Tokyo.
A Sports Ministry statement said there were 19 days to go for the competition, and with the dynamic conditions, possibility of travel cannot be ruled out completely just yet . However, time is running out for Saina and Srikanth. Malaysia Open was one of two remaining qualifying tournaments for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The qualification period ends on June 15 and the last qualification event is the Singapore Open, scheduled for June 1. However, Singapore has announ
SAI U-turn after BAI says India not withdrawn from Oly qualifiers
Thu, May 06 2021 10:13:35 PM
New Delhi, May 6 (IANS): There seems to be a communication gap between the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Badminton Association of India (BAI). Just over an hour after SAI announced that the Indian badminton team had withdrawn from this month s Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, BAI contradicted the statement saying it was still in talks with the Malaysian government for allowing Indians to compete there. SAI subsequently did a U-turn on its initial statement.
Malaysia has put a travel ban on Indians due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic. But the tournament is important for Indian shuttlers as Malaysia Open Super 750 and the Singapore Open Super 500 tournament on June 1-6 are the last qualification events for this year s Tokyo Olympic Games. The withdrawal of the Indian team from these events would mean the end of hope to qualify for the likes of former world No.1 players