Injustice to Indian shuttlers: SATS chief

Four shuttlers, Saina Nehwal, K Srikanth, N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, failed to make the cut owing to cancellation of tournaments due to the pandemic.

Hyderabad: Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) chief A Venkateshwar Reddy said that Indian shuttlers suffered the most because of the Covid-19 pandemic as it deprived them of participating in the Tokyo Olympics.

Four shuttlers, Saina Nehwal, K Srikanth, N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, failed to make the cut owing to cancellation of tournaments due to the pandemic. SATS chief urged the IOA, Sports Ministry and Badminton Association of India officials to look into the matter.

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“These four Indian players have proximity to gain eligibility in Tokyo Olympics. But unfortunately they alone bore the brunt of injustice in the pretext of Covid-19. They are urged to forego the revered opportunity of taking part in Tokyo Olympics due to the cancellation of the Tournaments, i.e., Indian Open, Singapore Open, Malaysia Open, and Indonesia Open tournaments. Participation in these tournaments is a gateway to Tokyo Olympics 2021. The rest of the Europe circuit badminton tournaments were conducted, notwithstanding Covid-19,” said Venkateshwar Reddy.

Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth and men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have qualified for the Games.

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