Badminton
"No exceptions for Saina Nehwal" — BAI confirms after player's Twitter outburst
Despite Saina Nehwal calling out the BAI for announcing Selection Trials on "short notice", the badminton body has confirmed that they won't be making any exceptions for the CWG gold medallist.
Saina Nehwal won't be given any exceptions for BAI trials (Source: AFP)
Former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal's recent outburst on Twitter against the Badminton Association of India (BAI) regarding the "short notice" announcement of the Selection Trials for the Commonwealth and Asian Games is not gaining any additional sympathies from the sports administrative body's side.
Nehwal wrote to the BAI and stated that she will be giving the Selection Trials (April 15th-20th) a miss right after the BAI announced the dates on 2nd April 2022.
READ | Saina Nehwal to skip Asian, CWG Games selection trials
In her Twitter post, the 32-year-old Olympic bronze medallist clarified her reasons for skipping the event and mentioned how the jam-packed badminton calendar with "back to back events non-stop" has moved her to decide this.
By giving the trials a miss, the World No. 23 shuttler has directly put her place in the CWG and Asiad squad at risk, as well, leading to several speculations.
Speaking to The Bridge in the aftermath of this post, a top BAI official further reassured, "There won't be any exceptions made for Saina Nehwal."
"This is the final tournament for the selection of players for the Thomas & Uber Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. There won't be a second trial taking place later," the official stressed.
Taking place in New Delhi, the BAI Selection Trials will see a bunch of youngsters and veterans fight it out over five days for the available spots on the squad for the prestigious trio of tournaments. All players who are outside the BWF Top 15 and within the Top 50 are eligible to contest the trials.
Nehwal, who won the gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games after defeating PV Sindhu, has even alleged the BAI to be "happy to put me out of CWG" as they are yet to respond to the shuttler.
In another conversation, former World No. 11 player, Sameer Verma said, "I think (intimating) 2 weeks before is fine," when asked if the announcement for the Selection Trials should have been made earlier.
Like Nehwal, Verma has also been struggling with injuries for a bit but he had a decent outing in Europe where he reached the quarters of the Swiss Open before losing to Anthony Ginting, 21-17, 21-14.
At the All England Open, Nehwal also put up a good show and went toe-to-toe with World Champion Akane Yamaguchi in a match that went the full length.
Nehwal will be seen competing at the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships from April 26th in Manila, Phillippines next.
