Doubles specialist Sikki Reddy and physiotherapist Kiran Challagundla have tested positive for COVID-19 at the national training camp in Hyderabad. According to reports by Times of India, both are asymptomatic. The training camp began from August 7 with all the top Indian players preparing for Tokyo 2020.

Sports Authority of India (SAI) conducted tests for players, coaches and staff on Tuesday, in which the results for Sikki and Kiran came out positive. Majority of the players had trained with Sikki except for world champion P.V. Sindhu. Sindhu trains in a different time slot from the other players. But head coach Gopichand trained with everyone, so it was a concern for all.

The national training camp is looking at a sudden closure due to the safety concerns. A coach at the camp said, “It’s a cause of concern for all of us as everyone has come in contact with Sikki and Kiran directly or indirectly…Srikanth and Sai (Praneeth) have worked with physio Kiran and now they are worried as well.”

The coach continued that since both Sikki and Kiran were asymptomatic, they had planned for retests and the results were expected to be negative. The entire badminton team at the training camp is set for retesting on Friday.

Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and RMV Gurusaidutt trained together at a separate facility. And the youngsters Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy have not joined the national training camp yet.