Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy Receive The Green Signal To Play In The Thailand Open

Indian Badminton players Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap have received the green signal to play their matches in the Thai Open on Wednesday.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton Association of India (BAI) gave their confirmation the fourth round of COVID-19 tests proved that the players posed no threat. Saina Nehwal retweeted the statements made by BWF which said that she along with HS Prannoy and Germany's Jones Ralfy Jansen have been permitted to participate in the tournament.

🙏👍 https://t.co/agay7cWWOK

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 12, 2021

However, the day started off on a bad note for the shuttlers. Nehwal had tested positive and was almost evicted from the game, whereas Prannoy tested negative after testing positive for the Coronavirus. However, the BAI officials sorted out the matter with the BWF and ensured that the players were in the safe zone. The Thai government said that the players tested positive not only on the PCR test but also on the antibody IgG test. This signified that the players were previously infected with COVID-19 but not at that instant of time.

In late 2020, Kashyap, Saina and Prannoy contracted the viral infection after attending RMV Gurusaidutt's wedding. They were quarantined as soon as they arrived in Bangkok and were tested for the virus. The trio tested negative twice but in the third round of testing, Saina and Prannoy tested positive whereas Kashyap tested negative. All of them were prohibited from participating in the tournament.

“When you contract the virus and later test negative, the dead protein of the virus will remain in the body and that’s why you may test positive though the virus is dead. The same happened in Saina and Prannoy case,” said a source in the Indian team.

Srikanth Kidambi Slams Health Officials At Thailand Open

Another Indian shuttler who is looking forward to playing in the Thailand Open slammed the health officials after he got a bloodied nose post multiple rounds of COVID-19 testing. He called this 'unacceptable' and posted pictures of his bloodied nose along with a statement on Twitter.

"We take care of ourselves for the match not to come and shed blood for THIS. However, I gave 4 tests after I have arrived and I can't say any of them have been pleasant. Unacceptable," he tweeted.

We take care of ourselves for the match not to come and shed blood for THIS . However , I gave 4 tests after I have arrived and I can’t say any of them have been pleasant .
Unacceptable pic.twitter.com/ir56ji8Yjw

— Kidambi Srikanth (@srikidambi) January 12, 2021

Also Read: Thailand Open: PV Sindhu Crashes Out In First Round, Ashwini-Satwik Advance To Second