Kidambi Srikanth and Ashwini Ponnappa are among the seven players who have tested positive for Covid-19 at Indian Open 2022. The Indian Open 2022 is taking place in New Delhi. Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on Thursday that seven players had tested positive and all of them were withdrawn from the tournament.
Apart from Srikanth and Ashwini, the other players who have returned a positive test are also Indians. The players are - Ritika Rahul Thaker, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singhi, and Khushi Gupta.
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BWF, in its press statement, confirmed that all the players and staff underwent a mandatory RT-PCR test. Following their results on Tuesday, the seven who tested positive and the doubles partners, who were deemed their close contacts, were all withdrawn from the tournament.
"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 Doubles partners deemed close contact of the seven players have also been withdrawn from the tournament."
BWF said in its staement
"The players will not be replaced in the main draw and their opponents will be given a walkover to the next round," it further said.
India is currently seeing a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases every day. Meanwhile, the new Omicron variant is also roaming around India. Delhi in particular is recording over 20,000 cases every day.
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) also later put out a statement confirming the development. The Indian Open 2022 got underway on January 11. However, its second round of matches will be played on Thursday at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi.