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A day after Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth and women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy pulled out of the 2021 Singapore Open, tournament organizers have decided to cancel the event. The decision comes after a rise in COVID-19 cases globally, which has led to travel challenges.
“All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants. However, rising COVID-19 cases globally led to complex challenges in managing inbound travel. Thus, in the interests of all players, tournament personnel and the local community’s health and safety, the event has been cancelled,” Badminton World Federation (BWF) said in a statement.
The Singapore Open, which was scheduled to be held from 1-6 June, was supposed to be the final qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics. Now, with the current development, the BWF has said that it will announce the final list of qualifiers shortly.
From India, 2016 Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth and the men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are in a comfortable position to make the cut.
While Sindhu is ranked seventh among women in the Race to Tokyo rankings, Sai Praneeth finds himself at 13th. The pair of Shetty and Rankireddy are placed 8th in the qualification race.
The cancelation of the Singapore Open also means it's all but over for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, both of whom do not feature in the top-16 of the Tokyo race.
Singapore Open could have provided some points to shuttlers
The Singapore Open, a Super 500 tournament, could have provided some points to shuttlers to help improve their chances to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
But with the cancelation of the event along with the Malaysia Open and the India Open earlier, shuttlers have been robbed of one last opportunity to make a push in the race to Tokyo.
