Published 15:42 IST, March 6th 2020
Parupalli Kashyap calls out BWF for 'lack of assurance' over Olympics qualification
Parupalli Kashyap took to Instagram to call out BWF over lack of support over the Olympics qualifying campaign due to Coronavirus outbreak. Read on for more.
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Indian badminton star Parupalli Kashyap is facing a race against time to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Kashyap, who is recovering from a back injury, took to social media to express his frustration with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) over their rigidity surrounding the Olympics qualifying schedule. The Coronavirus outbreak means several qualifying events have been either cancelled or postponed, leaving Kashyap, wife Saina Nehwal and several other stars with less than an ideal qualifying scenario.
With BWF's plan to tackle the qualifying campaign still up in the air, Kashyap took to Instagram to urge BWF to extend the Olympic qualification period.
Olympic qualification badminton: Parupalli Kashyap makes another plea to BWF
Addressing his fans on social media, Parupalli Kashyap provided an update on his injury by stating that he is progressing well in his rehab and that he should be back on the court in two weeks time. Kashyap was forced to retire from the Spain Masters 2020 due to the injury. But the 33-year-old noted that he plans to be back for the India Open that starts on March 24 to kickstart his Olympics qualifying campaign.
Kashyap further addressed the uncertainty due to the Coronavirus outbreak by stating that the BWF has failed to provide any assurances to the participants. The 33-year-old, however, noted that he and his wife Saina Nehwal still plan to give their best for the remaining events and to gauge their status at the end of the qualifying period.
Parupalli Kashyap calls out lack of BWF support after cancelled events
I wanted to address another topic regarding the situation with the Coronavirus and the Olympic qualification period and the no. of tournaments which are doubtful to be held . We all had 7 events starting from Spain masters until the Singapore open n few have the Asian Champs too.
— Parupalli Kashyap (@parupallik) February 29, 2020
Many players were injured in the last year when the qualification period started and now if they’re fit n hope to do well in the next events , what happens to their qualification chances if most the events are doubtful as of now . @bwfmedia @Tokyo2020 @iocmedia
— Parupalli Kashyap (@parupallik) February 29, 2020
Olympic qualification badminton
BWF's Road to Tokyo qualifying campaign will end on April 26, 2020, with the final rankings to be released on April 28. As per the rankings, PV Sindhu (7th) and Sai Praneeth (11th) look set to be the only representatives from India. Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Pranoy are all vying for an Olympics qualification berth.
15:42 IST, March 6th 2020