Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and P. Kashyap feel that the BWF should extend the Olympic qualification period in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak wrecking havoc on the qualifying events for the Tokyo Games.
Concerns over the rapid spread of the deadly virus had forced the postponement of the four Olympic qualifying events so far — Lingshui China Masters (February 25 to March 1), Vietnam International Challenge (March 24 to 29), German Open (March 3 to 8) and Polish Open (March 26 to 29).
“Qualification period can be extended if the tournaments are getting cancelled cause of #coronavirus,” Saina tweeted, tagging the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“It will be unfair for most of the players who are really close to qualifying for Olympics 2020.”
Saina, the London Olympic bronze medallist, is currently lying at 22nd in Race to Tokyo list and needs a rapid rise in the rankings to qualify for the Games.
Her husband Kashyap and former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth are at 24th and 21th spots respectively in the Race to Tokyo list.
For them and several top players around the world, including China’s two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan (currently placed at 30th), the next few tournaments will be crucial as they try to squeeze into the top 16 to qualify for Tokyo.
The prestigious All England Championships (March 11 to 15), offering 12,000 ranking points for the winner, is next in line, followed by the Swiss Open, India Open (Super 500), Malaysia Open (Super 750), and Singapore Open (Super 500) before qualification period ends on April 28.
“I understand that everything has to be assumed at this moment but I hope all the athletes have a fair chance to qualify for the Olympics” Kashyap tweeted.
