Coronavirus-hit Sukamuljo out of Thai tournaments
The Badminton Association of Indonesia announced yesterday that Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, the top-ranked player in the men’s doubles, had tested positive for Covid-19.
“Based on the last test that Kevin ran on December 31, 2020, the PCR swab test result was positive,” Octaviani, a doctor at the PBSI National Training Center, was quoted as saying by the Indonesian media.
As a result, he and his partner Marcus Gideon, the current world No.1 men’s doubles pair, have withdrawn from the three premier tournaments in Bangkok this month.
The rest of the Indonesian team arrived in Bangkok last night.
The absence of the top men’s doubles duo is another blow to the organisers of the tournaments which are now missing several big names.
The Japanese team announced their withdrawal from the tournaments on Sunday after world No.1 men’s player Kento Momota tested positive for Covid-19.
The Chinese Badminton Association has also withdrawn its team from the final three events of the 2020 season due to travel restrictions.
Bangkok’s Muang Thong Thani will host the three events — the Yonex Thailand Open from Jan 12-17, the Toyota Thailand Open from Jan 19-24 and the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020 from Jan 27-31.
The first two events, both Super 1000 tournaments, offer a total purse of US$1 million each, while the 2020 season finale has a total prize fund of $1.5 million.
They will be held behind closed doors under strict Covid-19 protocols.
The men’s competition will be now led by No.2 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan, and No.3 Anders Antonsen and No.4 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
The women’s side has lost No.3 Akane Yamaguchi and No.4 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, leaving No.1 Tai Tzuying of Taiwan, No.5 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, and No.6 Carolina Marin of Spain as the top names in the field.
Despite the setbacks, the organisers insist the tournaments will go ahead as scheduled.