Saina, Srikanth’s Olympic hopes hang by a thread
The hopes of former world No.1 players Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics hang by a thread after the Malaysian government informed the Indian High Commission in Malaysia that travel for the Indian badminton contingent “may not be possible immediately”.
The participation of Indian shuttlers for the May 25-30 Malaysia Open was cast in doubt after the Malaysian government imposed a travel ban on Indians April 28 onwards following the massive surge in Covid-19 cases in the country.
The Super 750 tournament in Kuala Lumpur is one of the last two events—the other being the Singapore Open from June 1-6—that contribute points towards Olympic qualification, known as Race to Tokyo, ending on June 15. With uncertainty looming, the sports ministry, through the Ministry of External Affairs, had approached the Malaysian government, requesting them to allow the Indian badminton contingent to participate. “After the initial request made earlier this week, the Indian High Commission in Malaysia has received information from the Malaysian government that the travel of the team may not be possible immediately,” Sports Authority of India (SAI) stated on Thursday. “However, there are still 19 days to go for the competition and with the dynamic conditions, possibility of travel cannot be ruled out completely just yet.”
All top players like PV Sindhu, Saina, Srikanth, Sai Praneeth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy are due to participate in the $600,000 tournament. But if Indians are disallowed, it will affect Saina and Srikanth the most. Currently 22nd in the Race to Tokyo rankings,