NEW DELHI: The domestic badminton season in India, which was scheduled to resume in Bengaluru after a gap of over one and a half years, has been stalled yet again after local authorities denied permission to host the events.
The first senior tournament (both men and women) was scheduled to be held from August 27 to September 3, while the second event was supposed to be staged from September 4 to 11.
“Unfortunately the tournaments had to be postponed till further notice as the Bangalore government didn’t give permission to host the event due to the current COVID-19 situation,” Badminton Association of India general secretary Ajay Singhania told PTI.
“We didn’t get permission from local authorities as cases are already spiking in some states like Kerela and also in Bangalore there has been weekend curfews and containment zones,” said P Rajesh, Karnataka Badminton Association secretary.
“Also there are more than 2,000 entries, which also include under-18 kids, who would be more vulnerable.”
Earlier, BAI had laid down guidelines for the resumption of tournaments, urging players above the age of 18, coaches, technical officials, organising team and staff to get fully vaccinated and also carry their certificates with valid barcodes.
Last year, BAI was forced to postpone the Senior National Championships in Lucknow (scheduled to be held between April 27 to May 3) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and also postpone the domestic circuit till September.
No event could be organised in the last one and half years during which the India Open Super 500 event, which was one of the Olympic qualifiers, was also cancelled.
The international circuit has also been affected by the pandemic with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) revamping the calendar multiple times to ensure some badminton action for the athletes.
