Virus dims Olympic chances

CORONA IMPACT Srikanth and Saina could be among Indian shuttlers to miss Tokyo cut with several events cancelled

NEW DELHI: The last few months of an Olympic qualification period generally means a nervous scramble for shuttlers trying to get inside the world rankings cut-off line to make it to the Games.

This time, there is no scramble, but plenty of nervousness as several Olympic qualifying badminton tournaments have been cancelled in the last few weeks, and, worse still, as the virus has spread from China to many different countries in the world, many more events may be cancelled.

This includes the India Open, scheduled from March 24-29 in New Delhi. The qualifying chances of several top players from around the world are in disarray, India’s Kidambi Srikantha and Saina Nehwal among them.

March was supposed to be the busiest month in the badminton calendar, with five top tournaments lined up—german Open (March 3-8), All England Open ( March 1 1 - 1 5 ) , Swiss Open ( March 1 7 - 2 2 ) , I ndia Open (March 24-29) and Malaysia Open (March 31-15).

All it would take for a player like Srikanth or Nehwal is one or two top finishes at these tournaments to be inside the Olympic cut-off line.

However, as things stand, the German Open has been called off, the Swiss Open is unlikely ( t hough an of f i ci al word i s awaited), and with new cases coming out of England, the prestigious All England is also under threat.

The All England is a Super 1000 event, the most prestigious tournament in that line-up, offering 12,000 ranking points for the winner. That leaves India Open (Super 500), Malaysia Open (Super 750), and Singapore Open (April 7-12, Super 500) as the last three big tournaments before the year-long qualification comes to end on April 28.

It may sound ironic now, but the last event of the qualification period, now cancelled was scheduled in the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak—the Badminton Asian Champions hi ps, f r om April 2 1 - 2 6 , i n Wuhan.

“The way the entire circuit is going, players who are on the borderline situation of qualification are tense and upset that t o u r n a ment s are getting lesser,” said Parupalli Kashyap, who is lying 24 in Race to Tokyo list. Kashyap’s wife Nehwal is 22 on that list.