England shuttlers pull out of India Open badminton after 2 positive cases in contingent

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New Delhi, Jan 9: The entire England badminton contingent has withdrawn from the upcoming India Open after the country's doubles specialist Sean Vendy and coach Nathan Robertson tested positive for the COVID-19.

England's decision to pull out was made public by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Sunday (January 9). The organisers, however, said that COVID tests of all players conducted this morning at the team hotel came out negative.

"Entire @BadmintonEnglnd team had withdrawn two days back and they are not here in India. #YonexSunriseIndiaOpen2022 is on track and all players who were tested at the hotel this morning as per protocol have come negative," the BAI tweeted.

Vendy's men's doubles partner, Ben Lane, too confirmed the development with a Twitter post. "No India Open this year for myself and @SeanVendy after he returned a positive covid test along with our coach @Nath_Robertson," Lane tweeted.

Vendy and Lane were seeded fourth in the men's doubles competition. The India Open will be held at the national capital from January 11 to 16 amid a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country. Organised by the BAI, the USD 400,000 Super 500 event will start the 2022 BWF World Tour season.

Earlier on Sunday, top Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal and Lakshya Sen were scheduled to attend a virtual press conference ahead of the tournament.

They were also to be joined by Vikram Dhar (Managing Director, Yonex-Sunrise India), Selvaamresh Supramaniam (Senior Tournament Series Manager), Devender Singh (BAI Vice-President) and Ajay Singhania (General Secretary, BAI) during the media interaction. However, it was cancelled due to the delay of flights as most players were yet to arrive at the stadium and need to proceed with the Covid protocols.

The tournament will be held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. Most players have started arriving in the national capital for the tournament. The foreign players as well as Indian players, ranked under Top-25 in the world, will be staying at the same hotel.

All the participating players will be taking the necessary safety precautions right from their arrival in New Delhi as per protocol and will be tested every day at the hotel and from there they will be having shuttle buses to come to the stadium, play matches and go back to the hotel again.

All the players as well as the tournament, match officials, BWF and BAI officials, support staff, vendors and others involved will have to go through a mandatory Covid test each day outside the stadium, and only after being tested negative they will be allowed inside the venue.

BAI has ensured that it will not compromise on the safety of the players as well as others involved, and will be following all the COVID-19 guidelines given by the government.