“I think it was a big blunder from the organiser’s side as well as Lakshya’s as the protocols were not really followed.”
The SaarLorLux Open was the last tournament of the year where players could gather ranking points. But the tournament turned out to be a nightmare for three Indian players, Ajay Jayaram, Subhankar Dey and Lakshya Sen.
After Sen’s father was diagnosed with Covid-19, all three players were asked to withdraw from the tournament and were put in quarantine.
Jayaram opened up to News Click about how the situation came about and how he coped with the situation in Germany.
Jayaram said that compatriot Lakshya Sen did not take into account the protocols set by the organisers and was openly roaming around the hotel venue. He also said that the tournament organisers were not strict in enforcing the rules and regulations.
“We were supposed to take tests prior or on arrival to the tournament. While Subhankar and I followed them properly, however, Lakshya didn’t. He took the test two days after he landed and the organisers did not accept his submission of the negative test result. Besides he went all around the hotel.”
He continued that when the organisers checked the results and DK Sen (Sen’s father cum coach) tested positive, the organisers made the hasty decision to ask them to pull out of the tournament and go into quarantine.
A visibly disappointed Jayaram: “I mean after putting in so much effort just to get there and be there for three weeks so the disappointed was a little hard to handle because it’s never happened that we have been at a tournament and were unable to play.”
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Jayaram and the rest have ever since returned to their home country and are looking forward to competing in the Asia tour in January.