Lagatar24 Desk
Seven players have been withdrawn from the upcoming India Open 2022 after testing positive for Covid-19, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
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 Doubles partners deemed close contact of the seven players have also been withdrawn from the tournament,” the world governing body said in a statement.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 competition’s main draw, and their opponents will be given a walkover to the next round.
“The players will not be replaced in the main draw and their opponents will be given a walkover to the next round,” said BWF in a statement.
To safeguard the health and safety of all participants, testing measures have been established in compliance with Badminton World Federation and Badminton Association of India rules.
Notably, the tournament’s second round begins today. B Sai Praneeth, the 2019 global bronze medalist, as well as double specialists Manu Attri and Dhruv Rawat, had tested positive for the dreaded virus before to their departure for New Delhi and had thus withdrew from the event before it began.
The whole England badminton team had already pulled out of the tournament before it began after Sean Vendy, the country’s doubles specialist, and coach Nathan Robertson tested positive for COVID-19.
