New Delhi: India’s World No. 10 men’s doubles player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy was tested positive for Coronavirus. Rankireddy who has yet to join the India national team in Hyderabad was found positive in both his first and second COVID-19 tests.
Rankireddy and his doubles partner were supposed to be conferred the Arjuna Award as they become the first Indian pair to win a Super 500 title when they defeated China’s Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen 21–19, 18–21, 21–18 in the 2019 Thailand Open final, but were forced to skip the virtual ceremony.
“My friends and family all tested negative, so I was surprised,” Rankireddy told the Indian Express.
“I didn’t know where I could’ve contracted it. There are no symptoms, but I’ll take all precautions.”
The 20-year-old said he is now under self-quarantine.
“I am a little disappointed about not able to join the Arjuna celebration. But we must just be thankful for having doctors and support,” added Rankireddy.
Meanwhile, in the most updated 2020 badminton schedule provided by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday, it stated that both the India Open, which was originally scheduled in March, but was postponed to December 8 – December 13 in New Delhi and Syed Modi was slated for November 17 to 22 in Lucknow, have officially been canceled by BWF due to the coronavirus pandemic situation in India.
“The Badminton World Federation (BWF) will implement an adjusted tournament calendar for the HSBC BWF World Tour in 2020,” said BWF in a statement.
In a separate development of Indian badminton, Saina Nehwal, who is currently training privately with her husband Parupalli Kashyap, is yet to join the national badminton camp for Tokyo Olympic hopefuls.
Nehwal, who won the London Olympics bronze medal had reportedly unhappy with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Badminton Association of India’s (BAI) decision to exclude her husband, men’s singles specialist Parupalli Kashyap’s name from the list of Tokyo Olympic probables.
