Saina Nehwal has tested positive for COVID-19 in Bangkok, where she was due to participate in the Yonex Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament, and is in isolation in hospital there. Her team-mate HS Prannoy also tested positive but his sample later returned a negative result; he will be re-tested today. Parupalli Kashyap, Nehwal’s husband who was sharing a room with her, is in self-quarantine and will also be tested later today.
NEWS UPDATE:
Badminton Association of India is in constant touch with @bwf, players, team management and organizers. @himantabiswa @AJAYKUM78068675 #badminton pic.twitter.com/CBilGCpmO4– BAI Media (@BAI_Media) January 12, 2021
These details were released by the Badminton World Federation on Tuesday. It also said the entire Indian team had been categorised high-risk by Thai health authorities. All players and support staff, it said, were currently self-quarantining in their rooms at the hotel and would be subject to a PCR test during the day.
It said Indian players scheduled to play today would be allowed to come to the venue but no support staff would be allowed.
Though the BWF did not mention the names of individual players, it essentially corroborated an earlier release by the Badminton Association of India that had said both Nehwal and Prannoy had tested positive.
Nehwal was due to play this morning in the first round against Kisona Selvaduray but gave her a walkover. Kashyap also gave his opponent, Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue, a walkover. There is a possibility, though, that if Nehwal’s second test, due today, returns a negative result, the BWF will reschedule hers and Kashyap’s matches.
In a tweet soon after the news broke, Nehwal said she’d been informed of her positive result “just before the warm-up” for the match. “I still didn’t receive the covid test report from yesterday…it’s very confusing and today just before the warm-up for the match they tell me to go to hospital in Bangkok…saying that I’m positive…according to rules the report should come in 5 hours.”
I still didn’t receive the covid test report from yesterday it’s very confusing and today just before the warm up for the match they tell me to got to hospital in bangkok … saying that I m positive ..according to rules the report should come in 5 hours.. @bwfmedia https://t.co/ETkWiNVHnP
– Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 12, 2021
A BWF official told ESPN they were waiting for the hard copies of the results to be sent to the players.
Two other players – from Germany and Egypt – had also initially tested positive but, as with Prannoy, their samples later returned negative results and they will be tested later today.
Curiously, both Nehwal and Prannoy had tested positive for the virus a few weeks ago – they, and other players, had attended the wedding of fellow player RMV Gurusaidutt on November 25. Four players – Prannoy, Gurusaidutt, Parupalli Kashyap and Pranav Jerry Chopra – tested positive. After an initial negative test, Nehwal’s results too returned positive.
The latest test result puts a brake on the Indian players’ tournament restart plans. Kashyap, Nehwal’s husband, is also understood to have been pulled out of the tournament since he was in close contact with her. He was to play his first-round match against Canada’s Jason Anthony Ho-Shue on Tuesday.
The two Thailand Open Super 1000 events over two weeks followed by the BWF Tour finals are to signal the return of top-flight international badminton.
The entire Indian badminton contingent, on January 6, had cleared the COVID-19 test and had been training as a part of the Green Zone, consisting of players and all stakeholders such as umpires, line judges, personnel from BWF, Badminton Association of Thailand, medical staff, and TV production crew. The most recent test, in which the players were found positive, was their third COVID-19 test since arrival on January 4.
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