FLIGHT BANS: BAI DRAWS UP PLANS FOR QUALIFYING EVENTS

NEW DELHI: With travel restrictions looming over the last two Olympic qualifying tournaments, Badminton Association of India (BAI) has reached out to relevant authorities to clarify the exact regulations for Indians “to visit these countries”.

Participation at the Malaysia Open (May 25-30) and Singapore Open (June 1-6) for Indians was in doubt after these two countries banned the entry of Indians following the massive ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases. Malaysia imposed a travel ban on April 28.

In addition, there is a twoweek quarantine in Malaysia, meaning players will have to reach Kuala Lumpur by May 10. “We have reached out to the Malaysian federation to understand if there are any updated quarantine rules that will be imposed on Indian players,” BAI said in a statement on Thursday.

With the current restrictions, Indians will not be able to take direct flights to Malaysia. “We have checked for via routes and the alternatives are either from Sri Lanka or from Doha. Indian shuttlers are most likely to travel via Qatar,” the statement added.

Singapore also imposed a travel ban from April 24. Currently for Indians to enter Singapore, they have to be in quarantine in a foreign country for 14 days. Alternatively, all players must undergo a three-week quarantine in Singapore. Visa documents have already been submitted for the Olympic probables—pv Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth, Chirag Shetty, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy.