Kiwi stars’ Olympic dreams left in limbo

A lot can change in just a few short weeks – something all New Zealanders are experiencing as the Covid-19 pandemic spreads.

New Zealand badminton players and Olympic-hopefuls Abhinav Manota, Oliver Leydon-Davis and Anona Pak were halfway through a European tour, trying desperately to improve their rankings before the Olympic qualification window closed.

‘‘We had been following the virus status which seemed to be having more of an impact in Asia – so far, so good... we thought,’’ Pak said.

Following a successful Oceania Championships in early February, the three players headed to Europe, basing themselves with Croatian player and friend Zvonimir Durkinjak, and were able to compete in the Austrian Open 2020 before the suspension of events began to cripple any hopes of further competition.

Their tour ended abruptly a few weeks later when the Badminton World Federation announced the suspension of all international events, leaving the players with no choice but to return to New Zealand, and with no idea how their Olympic dream would be affected.

Since returning to New Zealand, Manota, Leydon-Davis and Pak went into self-isolation, but have been working hard to maintain their physical conditioning and mental strength.

While training in their living rooms and backyards, the players have also been closely following the news, anxiously awaiting any announcements about the future of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the qualification window, which was scheduled to close on April 26.

Two announcements at the end of March have provided a glimmer of hope to the players, with confirmation of the postponement of the Olympics to 2021, and the freezing of world rankings by the BWF – however a decision on the qualification process is still to come.

Leydon-Davis is taking a positive approach to the news.

‘‘Although there is a lot of uncertainty still surrounding what it will take to qualify, I feel the postponement has given us a second chance. It’s vital we do everything we can during this lockdown to come out physically better and ready to go once things start up again.’’