Covid-19 has stepped its foot in the India Open currently underway in New Delhi and as many as seven Indian players who tested positive had to withdraw from the tournament.
The players include World No.1 Kidambi Srikanth and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ashwini Ponnappa. The players along with their double partners have been withdrawn – said Badminton World Federation (BWF) in a statement on Thursday.
The five other players to test positive are – Ritika Rahul Thakkar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singhi, Khushi Gupta.
“The players returned a positive result to a mandatory RT-PCR test conducted on Tuesday. Doubles partners deemed close contact of the seven players have also been withdrawn from the tournament,” said the BWF in its statement.
The second round of matches will be played on Thursday at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi.
