Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth’s last chance of booking a berth for Tokyo Olympics almost shattered on Tuesday after the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the governing body for the game globally, cancelled the Singapore Open , the last qualifying event for the showpiece event, due to the coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
The tournament organisers Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and BWF jointly agreed to cancel the Singapore Open scheduled for June 1-6.
“In the interests of all players, tournament personnel and the local community’s health and safety, the event has been cancelled. BWF can confirm the tournament will not be rescheduled,” the BWF said in a statement.
“All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF 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 it will issue a further statement on Tokyo Olympics qualifying at a later date.
Earlier, chances of Saina, the London Olympics bronze-medallist, and Srikanth qualifying for the Tokyo games had hinged on the Singapore Open after the Malaysian Open was postponed on May 7.
Following the postponement of Malaysian Open, Badminton Association of India (BAI) had sought clarity from the BWF regarding the qualification scenario for its shuttlers.