India Open: COVID-19 hits tournament; 7 players including Kidambi Srikanth test positive

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Thursday suffered a major blow following the emergence of COVID cases in the ongoing India Open Badminton Championship. Ahead of the start of the India Open Badminton tournament, Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth pulled out of the season-opening India Open Super 500 tournament after testing positive for COVID-19. The 2022 edition of India Open is being currently held by BAI behind closed doors at the Indira Gandhi Stadium's KD Jadhav Indoor Hall with the governing body laying down strict COVID-19 protocols.

As per reports, top Indian shuttlers including Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini Ponappa, Ritika Thakkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Singh and Khushi Gupta are among 7 to test COVID-19 positive at the ongoing India Open 2022 badminton tournament in New Delhi. Srikanth is currently world No. 10 in singles while Ashwini Ponappa is world No. 20 in women’s doubles and she is competing in the tournament with P. Sikki Reddy.

BAI issues statement on COVID cases at India Open

According to the tweet from BAI media, seven players have tested positive for COVID-19 and have withdrawn from the India Open main draw.  The seven players also had doubles pair who have deemed to have close contact and were found positive after RT-PCR Test was conducted on Tuesday. The players who were found positive will not be replaced during the India Open main draw and the opponents will be given walkover.

India Open schedule and live streaming

The India Open badminton tournament, a BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament, is back after a two-year gap due to the coronavirus pandemic.  India open 2022 will take place in India from 11 January – 16 January 2022.  Big names like PV Sindhu Kidambi Srikanth, Lakshya Sen, Loh Kean Yew, Saina Nehwal will feature in their respective categories. After two days of action Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu registered convincing victories in the opening round, while Saina Nehwal also cleared her opening round.

Saina advanced after Czech Republic’s Tereza Svabikova retired at the start of the second game with the Indian leading 22-20, 1-0. According to Sportstiger.com, the India Open tournament will be live broadcast on Star Sports Network. however, only the Quarterfinals, semi-finals, and Finals will be available to watch. It can be live-streamed on Star’s OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar.