Quite a few players were banking on the now postponed Yonex Sunrise India Open to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Among them were Srikanth Kidambi and Saina Nehwal. For Saina Nehwal, considering her recent form, qualifying for the Olympics seems to be next to impossible, and for Srikanth who is returning to good form, it has become an extremely difficult task.
Srikanth: “Personally, I think whatever is playing out now is a little unfair. I don’t think the world is ready to host tournaments at the moment. It’s still not over for me, though. If I can manage a semifinal finish in Malaysia and a quarterfinal in Singapore, that’ll be good for my qualification chances.”
Speaking for his wife Saina Nehwal, Kashyap Parupalli said, “Now one’s (India Open) gone and we aren’t sure if the remaining two (Malaysia and Singapore Open) will happen at all. It just seems unfair at this point for the Olympics to stick to schedule when qualification events aren’t taking place. You can’t just brush aside these athletes and say they don’t matter.”
Read the full story on ESPN.
