Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy both tested positive for the coronavirus as they prepared to play the Thailand Open badminton tournament.
Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy have tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of the BWF-100 Badminton tournament in Thailand that is beginning on Tuesday. Earlier, Saina had uploaded a photo of her undergoing a coronavirus test in Thailand which was the third. With this development though, Saina Nehwal has been forced to withdraw from the tournament. Her husband, Parupalli Kashyap, has also been taken into quarantine and he will also miss the tournament along with HS Prannoy. This was the first badminton tournament of the year, with the coronavirus pandemic destroying the badminton calendar for 2020 with no tournaments held ever since March 2020. However, the Indian contingent for the Thailand Open is big with over 12 players participating in the first major tournament of the year. The likes of PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth, Sourabh Verma, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and Ashwini Ponappa all in the fray.
The Thailand Open is the first of three consecutive tournaments played in strict bio-secure conditions and behind closed doors in Bangkok, culminating in the World Tour Finals from January 27. However, a resurgence in COVID-19 cases prompted a partial lockdown in Bangkok earlier this month. The Bangkok tournaments have been severely weakened by the withdrawal of China, who were grounded by travel restrictions. Japan pulled out when men's world number one Kento Momota tested positive.
Second time unlucky for Prannoy
Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy have tested positive for the coronavirus along with Guru Saidutt and Jerry Chopra. However, Parupalli Kashyap’s wife and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal has tested negative for the coronavirus. Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy and Jerry Chopra had all attended the wedding of Guru Saidutt on November 25 and in the event, they came in contact with a friend who later tested positive for the coronavirus. Saina Nehwal had also attended the wedding but she returned a negative test along with Guru Saidutt’s wife Amulya Gullapalli.
This latest development came on the back of several badminton players who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last four months. In August, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy tested positive for the coronavirus and that prevented him from travelling to Denmark where the Thomas and Uber Cup were being played.
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