Flight bans: BAI draws up plans for qualifying events

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, among many, banned the entry of Indians following the massive ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases. Malaysia imposed a temporary travel ban on Indians from April 28 onwards. “All travellers who began from any Indian destination, be it via direct or transit flights, are barred from entering Malaysia,” Malaysia’s Senior Minister (Security) Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said earlier this week.

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 on Indians April 24 onwards. 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.

Travel 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—for visas. “Though there is a ban on the issue of visa for Indians except for sports related travel activities, visa is available on certain terms and conditions,” BAI added.

With June 15 as the cut-off date for qualifying for Tokyo, these two tournaments are crucial for Indians hoping to qualify, especially for former world No.1 players Saina and Srikanth.

Currently 22nd in the Race to Tokyo rankings, Saina is on tricky ground as she seeks to qualify for her fourth Olympics. The 31-year-old—the first Indian to win an Olympic badminton medal with bronze at London 2012—must finish the qualifying period in the top 16 to qualify behind Sindhu, who is No.7 in the list. No.20 behind Sai (No.13) in Race to Tokyo, Srikanth has some catching up to do to make the top 16. As of now only Sindhu, Sai and the doubles pair of Shetty and Rankireddy are more or less confirmed for Tokyo. The players had pinned their hopes heavily on the India Open in Delhi (May 11-16), but its cancellation due to Covid-19 has left their hopes hanging.