Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy, Parupalli Kashyap withdraw for Thailand Open after testing positive for COVID-19

Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap on Tuesday withdrew from Thailand Open after Nehwal and Prannoy tested positive for COVID-19. Whereas Kashyap is under quarantine due to close proximity with a player, Badminton Association of India (BAI) has said.

Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy were forced to give walkovers from the much-awaited Thailand Open in Bangkok after the duo tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus.

Saina, after testing positive for COVID-19, gave a walkover ahead of her match on Tuesday in what was supposed to be her first match since the outbreak of coronavirus before pulling out of the tournament along with Prannoy and Kashyap. Saina had played her last match in the All England Open in March 2020.

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Saina took to social media platform Twitter to raise concerns surrounding the rules as she said she didn’t receive her test report yesterday while adding she was asked to head to the hospital just before the warm-up. The Olympic medallist further said that, according to rules, that report should have come within five hours of the test.

“I still didn’t receive the covid test report from yesterday it’s very confusing and today just before the warm up for the match they tell me to got to hospital in bangkok ... saying that I m positive ..according to rules the report should come in 5 hours.. @bwfmedia,” Saina tweeted on Tuesday.

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Both Saina and Prannoy have been put in isolation in a hospital for at least 10 days. Notably, this is the second time Saina has tested positive for coronavirus having recovered from it only a few weeks ago.

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Recently, Saina had raised concerns about the fitness of the athletes after trainers and physios were restricted from meeting the players during the Thailand tour. Indian shuttlers are currently in Bangkok for Thailand Open 2021 as preparations for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics after a gap of almost one year.

Besides Saina and Prannoy, the Indian contingent in Bangkok for the Thailand Open includes the likes of PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikkanth and Sai Praneeth alongside men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and doubles players Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy. Parupalli Kashyap, Sameer Verma, Dhruv Kapila and Manu Attari are also in the team.

UPDATE: Both Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy have been cleared to play in the Thailand Open after the latest test results. Read the full story here:Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy cleared to play in Thailand Open