Srikanth among 7 Indian shuttlers to test positive for Covid-19 at India Open
These players will not be replaced in the main draw of the competition and their opponents will be given a walkover to the next round.
Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday confirmed that as many as seven players have been withdrawn from the impending India Open 2022 after they tested positive for Covid-19.
These players include – Kidambi Srikanth Nammalwar, Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thaker, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singh, Khushi Gupta.
“The players returned a positive result to a mandatory RT-PCR test conducted on Tuesday. Doubles partners deemed close contact of the seven players have also been withdrawn from the tournament,” the world governing body said in a statement.
These players will not be replaced in the main draw of the competition and their opponents will be given a walkover to the next round.
Testing protocols have been implemented in accordance with Badminton World Federation and Badminton Association of India guidelines to ensure the health and safety of all participants.
Round two of the tournament commences today.
Earlier, B Sai Praneeth, the 2019 world championship bronze medallist, and double specialists Manu Attri and Dhruv Rawat had tested positive for the dreaded virus ahead of their departure for New Delhi and had hence pulled out before the start of the tournament.
The entire England badminton contingent had also withdrawn from the competition ahead of its start after the country’s doubles specialist Sean Vendy and coach Nathan Robertson tested positive for the virus.