Commonwealth Games: Pakistan withdraws badminton team citing shuttlers won't win medals

The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), on Sunday, announced that they have dropped their badminton team from the country's contingent for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, citing that shuttlers from the nation won't win any medals in the quadrennial event.

Pakistan had earlier named a 4-member badminton team including Tokyo Olympian Mahoor Shahzad, Ghazala Siddique, Murad Ali, and Irfan Saeed for the Commonwealth Games. This development comes after the shuttlers were called for a training camp in Lahore and even procured their visas.

"The PSB organised a 15-day training camp for Pakistan's badminton team in Lahore for the Games. Moreover, all the four players and their coach had obtained their accreditation card as well as visas and were all set to leave for Birmingham. But the PSB has decided to exclude badminton, reportedly on the pretext that the squad has no chance of winning medals," the Pakistan Badminton Federation (PBF) President Wajid Ali, was quoted as saying in media reports.

According to reports, the PBF has contacted the PSB asking them to overturn the decision, but the top body is yet to reply.

Olympian Mahoor Shahzad took to her Twitter account to express her displeasure on the situation.

"With utmost anguish I have to inform you all that the Pakistan Badminton Team selected for the Commonwealth Games 2022 has been dropped by the PSB. It's quite unfair on the part of the PSB to isolate the only sport at the last moment when everything was finalised," she tweeted.