Kevin Sanjaya tests Covid-19 positive; ruled out of Thailand Open, World Tour Finals

top tiers of badminton world have been shaken up once again, as  current World .1 Men's doubles team of Kevin Sanjaya and Marcus Gideon have pulled out from a series of matches slated to begin in Thailand from January 2021. Badminton World Federation has been one of last major sporting organizations to restart ir tours and tournaments after COVID-forced break early in March last year. Having just begun to emerge from upheaval of pandemic, loss of Kevin Sanjaya and Marcus Gideon will be huge for organizers.

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Kevin Sanjaya COVID-19 positive; to miss Thailand tournaments

Badminton Association of Indonesia anunced on Monday, January 4, that World .1 Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo had tested positive for COVID-19 and thus would t be participating in three series being held in Thailand this January. "Based on last test that Kevin ran on December 31, 2020, PCR swab test result was positive," confirmed Dr. Octaviani, a doctor at PBSI National Training Center. last BWF tournament,  Danisa Denmark Open, was held from 13-18 October 2020 but did t see widespread participation from Asian teams. 

Of three tournaments that Sanjaya and his doubles partner Marcus Fernaldi Gideon participated in last year, duo won Indonesia Masters, were runner-ups at All-England Open and reached quarter-finals of Malaysian Open. y would have been keen to start off New Year with some much-needed game time, but will instead be in quarantine due to Sanjaya's positive COVID test. rest of Indonesian team, however, has tested negative and are on ir way to Bangkok via a chartered flight.

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BWF schedule for January 2021

This year, BWF has anunced that y will be starting out year - and Olympic pre-season - with Yonex Thailand Open from January 12-17 which will be a BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament. This will be followed by Toyota Thailand Open from January 19-24 (also a BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournament) and finally prestigious HSBC BWF World Tour Finals which will w be held from January 27-31. last BWF event still held under n-COVID rules was  All England Open in 2020. 

This is t first hit to sport, with entire Japanese Badminton Team pulling out of three events after Men's World .1 Kento Momota tested positive for virus after a practice session with his teammates. This was also preceded by Chinese delegation withdrawing from events due to an increase in COVID cases in Thailand. 

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Im Credits: AP