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The much-awaited Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2021, which was to be held from May 11-16 in New Delhi, has been postponed following a huge spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.
The 2021 edition of the USD 400,000 tournament was to be held in a safe and secure bio-bubble with no spectators at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in the national capital.
However, with lockdown coming into effect in New Delhi from Monday midnight, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) in consultation with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) decided to postpone the Super 500 tournament indefinitely.
“Considering the current challenges, BAI is left with no option but to announce the postponement of the tournament for the time being. We had an entry of 228 players and close to 300 people gathering, including coaches, support staff and officials and the circumstances are such that the 2021 edition of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open seems, for now, a very risky affair. Several rounds of discussions were held with BWF as well as the Delhi Government and other stakeholders and accessing the safety of players and officials BAI needed to take this decision,” said Badminton Association of India (BAI) General Secretary Ajay Singhania on the postponement.
With the COVID situation deteriorating in the country, the India Open has already witnessed quite a few withdrawals in the past few days.
Olympic champion Carolina Marin and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon were among 13 players who had pulled out of this Tokyo Olympic qualifier a few days ago.
India Open postponement a blow for Saina & Srikanth
This is the second consecutive year the India Open has been affected by the pandemic. Last year too, the tournament could not be held.
However, with just a few months left for the Tokyo Olympics, this time the absence of the India Open will severely hurt the Olympic aspirations of a few of India's star shuttlers.
Being one of the final few Tokyo Olympic qualifiers, the India Open had attracted some of the biggest names from the badminton world. For India's Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, the tournament was crucial for a chance to make the Tokyo cut.
The London Olympic bronze medalist is currently languishing in 22nd place in the world rankings while Srikanth is in the 20th spot. Only a top-16 place will guarantee them a Tokyo berth.
With the India Open now postponed, they will have to depend on the last three qualifying tournaments — Spain Masters Super 300 (May 18-23), Malaysia Open Super 750 (May 25-30) and Singapore Open Super 500 (June 1-6) to fulfill their Tokyo ambitions.
As of now, only Rio Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu, World Championships bronze medalist Sai Praneeth and former Thailand Open men's doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are comfortably placed to qualify.
