Tokyo: Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth's ticket to Tokyo Olympics is all but over as the world governing body of badminton has ruled out the qualifiers, due to the pandemic.
"It is sad that the best player of our country will not be in attendance for the Games, but I skeptical about the Games happening in general," said the Indian badminton coach Gopichand while talking to FPJ.
"With the pandemic still around I still doubt that the Games will ever he held," said Gopi.
"The Badminton World Federation (BWF) can confirm no further tournaments will be played inside the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying window. As such, while the qualification period officially closes 15 June 2021 as per the Revised Tokyo 2020 Qualification System, the current Race To Tokyo rankings list will not change," the world body said.
Former world no 1 Srikanth and London Games bronze-medallist Saina's hopes were all but dashed when the last of the Olympic qualifiers in Singapore was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The duo had hung on a slim hope when the governing body said it 'will issue a further statement on Tokyo Olympics qualifying at a later date'.
Four Indians, PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, and Chirag Shetty are the players who have qualified for the July-August Olympics in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Japan extended a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas for 20 more days on Friday, with infections still not slowing as it prepares to host the Olympics in just over 50 days.
On the other hand, the president of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee hinted on Friday that even local fans may be barred from venues when the games open in just under two months.
Fans from abroad were ruled out months ago as being too risky during a pandemic.
The state of emergency was to have been lifted on Monday. The extension in Tokyo, Osaka and other prefectures raises even more questions if the Olympics can be held at all.
Organisers and the IOC are insistent they will go ahead despite polls in Japan showing 60-80% want them called off.
"We would like to make a decision as soon as possible (on fans), but after the state of emergency is lifted we will assess," organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said at her weekly briefing.
