Tokyo Olympics 2021: Saina And Srikanth’s Hopes Set To Blow

Tokyo Olympics 2021: Saina and Srikanth’s hopes set to blow as India pull out of the Malaysia Open.

Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal’s hopes of appearing in this year’s Tokyo Olympics have come as a shock, with India’s withdrawal from the Malaysia Open badminton tournament on Thursday.

In view of the second wave of Coronavirus in India, Malaysia has banned travelers coming from India.

According to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Indian badminton team temporarily withdrew from the Malaysia Open to be held from May 25 to 30 due to travel restrictions by the Malaysian government.

Tokyo Olympics 2021: One of the last Olympic qualification tournaments to end on June 15

The Malaysia Open was an Olympic qualification event and the Singapore Open Super 500 tournament is the last qualifier tournament to be held from June 1 to 6.

The tournament was an Olympic qualification to feature top Indian singles and doubles players including PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, Sai Praneeth.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Ashwini Ponnappa, and N Sikki Reddy. The tournament is one of the last of the Olympic qualification tournaments to end on 15 June.

Malaysia rejected this application.

The Sports Ministry, through the Ministry of External Affairs, had sought permission from the Malaysian administration to allow the Indian team to participate in the tournament.

However, Malaysia rejected this application. No official update regarding the Singapore Open has been given. Malaysia was banned from traveling to India on 28 April.

The Sports Ministry, with the help of the Ministry of External Affairs, demanded the Malaysian authorities to approve the Indian team, but it was rejected due to the increase in cases of Covid-19.

Due to the increase in Covid-19 cases in India, the Malaysian government told the Indian High Commission that the team cannot be allowed to travel at present.