Star shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, who missed the chance of qualifying for upcoming Tokyo Olympics, wants Badminton World Federation (BWF) to look into the matter again and then take a decision on the same. BWF on Friday confirmed that no further tournaments will be played inside the qualifying window and as a result not only Kidambi but Saina Nehwal too missed the bus for the Tokyo Olympics.
Earlier this month, Singapore Open was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Singapore Open 2021 is a Super 500 event on the BWF World Tour and was the last tournament offering Race to Tokyo ranking points inside the Olympic qualifying window. The Indian shuttler expressed disappointment and asserted that if the governing body could reconsider the decision it might help few players who were trying for Tokyo Olympics.
“See there is nothing much that you and I could have done, things in the last couple of months went out of control. But BWF can look into this matter and probably take a decision which will help every player as five-six tournaments were cancelled,” Kidambi told ANI.
“And if all of them could have happened there was a very good chance of me qualifying for the Olympics. Tournaments were cancelled and players lost the chance of qualifying so I think BWF should look into this matter and make a decision,” he added.
Kidambi pointed how things ran out of the hands of the players amid the coronavirus pandemic. He highlighted how the situation was close to normal in December last year and he featured in tournaments.
“Players who have qualified already I think are very motivated and those who missed out are disappointed and are feeling bad about it,” he said.
“None of us really knew what will happen. Last year in March the first lockdown happened but if you see, in December 2020 things were really normal and I played a tournament in January and in March but immediately after that things started getting worse and everything got cancelled,” Kidambi added.
Having represented India in the 2016 Olympics, Kidambi’s goal was to win a medal in Tokyo 2020.
“I’ve been there in 2016 Olympic so it was my dream for 2020, my goal was to get a medal. I am really disappointed not being able to be there in the 2020 Olympics as of now,” he said.
“But if BWF can think of making new rules, it will help the players who were on the verge of qualification. It is not the end for me, I will keep working hard and I will try to do the best in future tournaments,” he added.
According to BWF, while the qualification period officially closes on June 15, as per the Revised Tokyo 2020 qualification system, the current Race To Tokyo rankings list will not change.
