Just when the main Indian shuttlers are eagerly wanting ahead to the largest badminton event in the nation, the India Open 2021 – a BWF World Tour Super 500 occasion – to strengthen their Olympic possibilities got here the information of its postponement on Monday.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI), in a launch, mentioned that in the wake of the sudden rise in the Covid-19 circumstances in New Delhi in addition to the sudden announcement of the lockdown in the metropolis, it was determined to postpone the upcoming Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2021.
When it could be held, if in any respect the packed Badminton World Federation calendar permits earlier than the July-August Olympic Games in Tokyo, stays to be seen. Also, if the prevailing pandemic state of affairs permits India Open to be held in the future earlier than the quadrennial Games is a query on everybody’s lips.
The BAI basic secretary, Ajay Singhania, mentioned in a launch: “Considering the current challenges, BAI is left with no option but to announce the postponement of the tournament for the time being. We had an entry of 228 players and close to 300 peoples’ gathering including coaches, support staff and officials and the circumstances are such that the Yonex-Sunrise India Open, 2021 edition seems for now a very risky affair. Several rounds of discussions were held with BWF as well as the Delhi government and other stakeholders and assessing the safety of players and officials, BAI needed to take this decision.”
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Among these wanting eagerly for this event that was scheduled from May 11-16 in New Delhi’s KD Jadhav Indoor Hall have been India’s prime two males’s singles gamers, Kidambi Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth, each ranked 14th and fifteenth in the world, respectively, and the No. 8 males’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.
While PV Sindhu and the Chirag-Satwik are a certainty for the Tokyo Olympics and are medal contenders in their respective classes, the type of Srikanth was a priority and there was hope that Srikanth would get useful factors and transfer his approach up the rankings and qualify for the Summer Olympics.
Chief nationwide coach and former All England Open champion, Pullela Gopichand, welcomed the BAI resolution to postpone the India Open. Talking to news18.com, he mentioned: “We have to see till when it is postponed. The scenario seems a little grim. With the Covid cases going up, the BAI has rightfully taken this decision and we respect it.”
Gopichand mentioned that he hoped that Srikanth, Saina Nehwal and the ladies’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy “had a chance in this tournament to try and make it to the Olympics”.
“None the less, it is not the end of the road. We have the two tournaments in Malaysia (May 25-30) and Singapore (June 1-6) after that and these players will make it up for the India Open postponement,” Gopichand added.
Former chief nationwide coach and Olympian, U Vimal Kumar, was of the view that postponement or canceling the India Open was not the approach ahead.
Speaking to news18.com from Bengaluru, Kumar mentioned: “I personally thought this India Open was easily manageable. It is very disappointing that it will not happen for now. This will definitely affect Srikanth’s chances of qualifying for the Olympics.”
Kumar, who was as soon as a coach of India’s prime shuttler in her day, Saina Nehwal, at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bengaluru, felt that BAI might have positively carried out the India Open.
“If they can conduct the Indian Premier League, especially in Mumbai, why not the India Open? It is a six-court hall. Only about 40-50 people need to be inside the stadium. And, there are no spectators allowed. What was the necessity to cancel it? It is basically your willingness. I don’t know what the issue is. India Open is a prestigious event. We have to learn to live with the pandemic. There is no escaping it. By cancelling, we are not going anywhere.”
While considered one of India’s main doubles gamers, Chirag was disenchanted with the postponement of India Open, he mentioned it gave him further time to coach and work along with his accomplice Satwik.
Speaking from Hyderabad to this web site, Chirag mentioned he was wanting ahead to the India Open to get extra match apply.
“Obviously, I was looking forward to the home tournament. It is always good to be playing in a home tournament, you have the home support. I am really disappointed that it is getting postponed. But, you have to look at the bigger picture and the situation right now is very bad. It would have been extremely difficult to hold a tournament of that level. Right now, all I can do is focus on the tournaments after that – the Malaysia Open (BWF World Tour Super 750 event) and Singapore Open (BWF World Tour Super 500 event). We get a week more of practice.”
Chirag mentioned that the India Open not taking place now doesn’t have an effect on his Olympic possibilities. “For Olympics, we have got to play more number of matches. A tournament getting cancelled is not the best of scenarios. As far as qualification is concerned, we are at the eighth position (Road to Tokyo) and it doesn’t affect our qualification process. When you look at match practice, we do lose one tournament before participating in the Olympics.”
Looking at the optimistic facet of it, Chirag mentioned he can be doing increasingly more coaching along with his new doubles coach, Denmark’s Mathias Boe.
“We have been working on improving the defence. The positive side is we will get to do a lot more of training before the Malaysia Open,” Chirag added.
Looking at it constructively, particularly the lack of match apply for Chirag and Satwik, former India shuttler-turned-coach, Uday Pawar mentioned the postponement of India Open was on the playing cards.
“Things are bad. The second wave is happening all over. The problem is with all the foreigners, the quarantine period, all those things are there. It is not easy to organise an event where people are coming from so many different countries,” mentioned Pawar.
Pawar mentioned that the want of the hour for Satwik and Chirag was extra matches forward of the Olympics. Satwik and Chirag are checked out as medal contenders for India in Tokyo.
“They need some tournaments where they can identify their weaknesses and work more with their new doubles coach, Mathias Boe. With a new coach, playing in a few tournaments is where they will be tested. In the Olympics, this will be really tough as there are four to five really good pairs that Chirag and Satwik have not beaten. If they meet them in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, they may find it tough.”
Pawar mentioned that considered one of the options lay in them going overseas to coach with higher sparring companions. “If they cannot get tournament practice, they should go abroad and train, depending on which countries would welcome them. Say, someone like Malaysia. Some countries like Korea, Japan and Indonesia don’t let others come in for training. You need good sparring so that they are better prepared. For example, Indonesia have four good combinations. When they practice against each other, their speed, reflexes become sharp.
“For Satwik-Chirag, they don’t have that kind of practice. They need to go to some country which may be lower than world standards but higher than India. To need a good match up, you need to play people of that level. In India, if they play 15 games and win all, that is not good as your weaknesses are not exposed. Weaknesses are exposed when you play against someone good. Thailand, Taiwan, may not be in the top 10 but are among the top 20. But that is good enough for sparring. It helps them also in having a top combination to train with,” Pawar defined.
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