Bangkok: Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Both players, who were supposed to begin their respective campaign in the BWF's rescheduled 2020 season, beginning with Thailand Open Super 1000 today, have been taken to the hospital for further tests.
Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia got a walkover as she was scheduled to play her first-round match of the Thailand Open against Saina today.
As a result, Selvaduray moved to the second round of the tournament without competing in the first round. Meanwhile, Saina's husband Parupalli Kashyap has also been taken to hospital, but his report status has not been confirmed yet.
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3rd COVID test here in bangkok 😢😢... The tournament starts tomorrow 👍👍 #bangkok #Thailandopen #tournament #badminton pic.twitter.com/Lc5c7YZkQa
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 11, 2021 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">3rd COVID test here in bangkok 😢😢... The tournament starts tomorrow 👍👍 #bangkok #Thailandopen #tournament #badminton pic.twitter.com/Lc5c7YZkQa
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 11, 20213rd COVID test here in bangkok 😢😢... The tournament starts tomorrow 👍👍 #bangkok #Thailandopen #tournament #badminton pic.twitter.com/Lc5c7YZkQa
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 11, 2021
"Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy tested positive for COVID. They have been taken to the hospital. Parupalli Kashyap has also been taken to hospital, but his report status is not confirmed yet," sources told ANI.
Last week, Saina had raised concerns over the fitness of the athletes after physios and trainers were restricted from meeting the badminton players during the entirety of their Thailand tour.
Having undergone coronavirus tests, Saina had asked Badminton World Federation (BWF), to sort the mess as this was impacting the fitness of the players on the court.
Saina and Prannoy are the latest shuttlers to test positive for coronavirus at BWF's Asia leg tournament in Bangkok. Earlier, Japan's Kento Momota, World No 1 male shuttler, tested positive for the virus which saw Japan and China pulling out of Thailand Open.
