Hyderabad:Ace Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth, who is the only male badminton player from the country to win a medal in BWF World Championships after Prakash Padukone, feels Badminton World Federation (BWF) should not organise any event until or unless there is a vaccine for deadly coronavirus.
Sai Praneeth, who is also a recipient of India's highest sporting honour Arjuna award, on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat opened-up about the Tokyo Olympics, lack of consistency of Indian shuttlers in major events and the resumption of badminton post-COVID-19.
Speaking about the resumption of badminton, the Hyderabadi shuttler said, "BWF has to be extra cautious now given the current situation. BWF can't conduct any tournament without any vaccine for COVID-19. Even though BWF has already released the schedule for badminton's comeback from September. But I don't think that is possible."
The 27-year-old went on to add that "even if BWF resumes the sports as per the given schedule, for us it is going to be a bit difficult as we have not started practice yet." Sai also opined that they are going to need at least two months "to achieve game fitness" due to lack of activity during the coronavirus-forced lockdown.
When asked about now deferred Summer Games of 2020, Sai said, "In my opinion, the postponement of Tokyo Olympics was a right decision," before adding that if the IOC or Japan has decided to go with their previous plans, most of the countries would not have allowed their players to participate in the mega event.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach recently said that Olympics would have to be cancelled if not held in 2021 and when asked about the same, the soft-spoken athlete said, "It is going to be a big blow not only just for me but for a lot of players who struggle four years to play in the Olympics."
"Olympics is the highest level of the tournament for any sports. So yes it is going to be really disappointing," he added.
Sai along with reigning world champion PV Sindhu is the only player from India, who are set to qualify for Tokyo Games in the singles event. Former world number one Saina Nehwal as well the Badminton Association of India's Khel Ratna nominee Kidambi Srikanth are virtually out of Tokyo qualification contention.
When asked about Indian shuttlers' inconsistency, the badminton star said, "We definitely need to maintain our fitness and be consistent. And for that, we have all the facilities and it just a matter of time before we attain that level."
