Hyderabad: The Indian men squad has pulled out from the SaarLorLux Open after defending champion Lakshya Sen's father, DK Sen, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sen also coaches Lakshya. In a statement, Sports Authority of India (SAI) had informed media on Wednesday about Lakshya's withdrawal from the tournament.
Sen, the defending men's singles champion at the tournament, was the second seed and was set to face Malaysia's Howard Shue in the second round on Wednesday.
Sen, 19, his coach Sen, and a physio arrived in Saarbrücken, Germany, for the tournament on October 25 and were advised to travel to Frankfurt for COVID testing, said SAI.
"The reports were received on October 27 where Sen and his physio came COVID negative but his coach came positive [asymptomatic]," it further said.
Also Read: Lakshya Sen out of SaarLorLux badminton after coach tests COVID-19 positive
According to reports, Shubhankar Dey and Ajay Jayram also decided to pull out on Wednesday night following the episode.
The Badminton World Federation's (BWF) press statement on Thursday said, “BWF can confirm three players have been withdrawn from the SaarLorLux Open 2020 as a precautionary measure for all participants following having been in contact with a positive case within their team entourage.
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#BWF confirm three players are isolating after coming in contact with a member of their team entourage who has tested positive for #COVID19 #SaarLorLuxOpen2020 #badmintonhttps://t.co/UD0uQEf6Hj
— BWF (@bwfmedia) October 29, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">#BWF confirm three players are isolating after coming in contact with a member of their team entourage who has tested positive for #COVID19 #SaarLorLuxOpen2020 #badmintonhttps://t.co/UD0uQEf6Hj
— BWF (@bwfmedia) October 29, 2020#BWF confirm three players are isolating after coming in contact with a member of their team entourage who has tested positive for #COVID19 #SaarLorLuxOpen2020 #badmintonhttps://t.co/UD0uQEf6Hj
— BWF (@bwfmedia) October 29, 2020
All three players have been tested negative for the virus and are placed in isolation.
“The three players: Lakshya Sen, Ajay Jayaram, and Subhankar Dey will not compete further in the SaarLorLux Open 2020, which began on Tuesday 27th October 2020, and all three players and the team entourage have been placed in isolation, in line with directives from the local health authorities and BWF tournament health protocols. All three players have tested negative for Covid-19 following the testing requirements for the tournament and are said to be in good health overall,” BWF said.
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