How the cancellation of Singapore Open affects Indian badminton

Big names will miss the upcoming mega event.

In a major blow, Saina Nehwal and Srikanth Kidambi's chances of securing an Olympic berth are all over after the recent cancellation of the Singapore Open. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) canceled the event due to COVID-19.

The tournament was about to take place from June 1 to 6. The Singapore Open was the last tournament offering points in the updated Tokyo Olympic Games qualification window. 

"The organizers and BWF made all attempts to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants. However, rising COVID-19 cases globally led to complex challenges in managing inbound travel." the BWF said in a statement. 

Unfortunately, the BWF confirmed that the Singapore Open will not be rescheduled. After India Open and Malaysia Open, the Singapore Open is the third consecutive tournament to be canceled due to COVID-19. This has dented the hopes of the Indian shuttlers as all these tournaments offered Olympic qualification points. Moreover, the qualification period ends on June 15. 

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How the cancelation affects Saina and Srikanth?

Former World no.1, Srikanth Kidambi, and 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, Saina Nehwal are unlikely to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Srikanth is currently in the 20th position in the Race to Tokyo ranking list. On the other hand, Saina is in the 22nd position. The top 16 players in the ranking list will qualify for the event. Hence, the chances of Saina and Srikanth to qualify for the Games seems opaque now. 

At the Rio Olympics, Srikanth shone to prominence as he reached the quarterfinals of the tournament. Moreover, an exemplary display of action in the quarterfinals against Lin Dan increased the hopes of Indian sports fans. 

Indian badminton queen Saina has previously contested three times at the Olympics ( Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016). While she became the first woman to win an Olympic medal in badminton for India at the London Games, she lost in the second round at the Rio Olympics. 

The Singapore Open was their last chance to fight for an Olympic berth after the postponement of the Malaysia Open. However, the cancelation has turned tables upside down for them. Moreover, a series of bad performances have put the Olympic qualification of Saina and Srikanth in a stagger. 

Below par performance

When the BWF revised the Tokyo qualification system in January 2021, it had been made clear that there will be no replacement events if the qualification events get canceled. 

In the contention to qualify for her fourth Olympics, Saina's performances in the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers have not been up to the mark. Since the start of the Olympic cycle in April 2019, she participated in 17 Olympic qualification tournaments. However, her best performance was in reaching the semi-finals of the recently concluded Orleans Masters. This very much explains why her chances of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics look very distant now. 

Meanwhile, Srikanth also contested for 17 Olympic qualifiers. His best performance was reaching the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open 2019 and Swiss Open 2021. A couple of disappointing performances and failing to reach a single tournament finals has also dented his hopes to make a second appearance at the Olympics. 

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Indian Shuttlers likely to qualify for Tokyo 2020 

Rio Olympics silver medalist, PV Sindhu is the sole female shuttler to qualify in the women's singles category. Likewise, Sai Praneeth will look to make his debut as he is the only Indian men's singles player to qualify. 

All eyes would be on the young duo of Satwik Sairaj and Chirag Shetty who would also look to make a debut at the quadrennial event. 

However, the BWF will issue a further statement on Tokyo 2020 qualifying at a later date. 

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