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Coronavirus

Sports events India might miss out on due to Covid-19 in May

Here, we look at all the global sporting events which India might miss due to the ever increasing second wave of Covid-19 in the country.

Sports events India might miss out on due to Covid-19 in May
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By

Abhijit Nair

Updated: 16 July 2021 10:16 AM GMT

The second wave of coronavirus has taken India by a storm. The country has been registering more than 3 lakh infections and more thousands of deaths every day since around the past one week.

The health care sector of the country has been brought down to its knees with people struggling to get their hands on oxygen, hospital beds and lifesaving drugs. The situation is so bad that many countries have red-listed India and have even banned travelers from the country.

Under such extraordinary circumstance where the country is gasping for breath, almost everything and everyone is expected to suffer. Sports and sportspersons are no different. Here, we look at all the global sporting events which India might miss due to the ever-increasing second wave of Covid-19 in the country:

Athletics

World Relays

The Indian men's 4x100m and women's 4x400m relay team were forced to withdraw from World Relays in Poland following flight bans due to surge in covid-19 infections in the country. Scheduled to held on 1st and 2nd May 2021, the World Relays would have been the first major international event for the Indian sprinters since the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

The Indian squad was forced out of the tournament following their inability to reach Poland after their connecting flight to Amsterdam was suspended. The Athletic Federation of India (AFI) did try to book a flight through an

alternate route, but to no avail. The lack of direct flights from India to Poland was final nail in the coffin for Indian sprinters as they miss out on what would have been a golden opportunity to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Asian Athletics Championships

The Asian Athletics Championships were scrapped completely long back. The event was supposed to be held from 20th – 23rd May 2021 at Hangzhou, China. The Chinese Athletics Association had announced its decision of cancelling the 24th edition of the event back in January 2021, citing the pandemic.

Hockey


Indian men's hockey team

India v/s Great Britain

The Hockey Pro League matches between India and Great Britain which were supposed to be held at London on 8th and 9th May 2021, was postponed last week after the British government red-listed India.

India was red-listed, with travel from the country banned, due to surge in coronavirus infections in the country. It was a big blow for the Indian hockey squad who had just returned to the FIH Pro League action after a yearlong break due to the pandemic.

India v/s Spain

The Indian hockey team is expected to take on Spain on 15th and 16th May 2021 in the FIH Pro League encounters. Though reports from last week suggest that the Indian contingent will travel to Spain, there has been no official word on it.

In fact a lot has changed in the past week, with Spain enforcing ten days quarantine on anyone travelling to the country from India. The country might have to skip the encounter if the coronavirus cases continue to increase at the rate it has been over the last one week.

India v/s Germany

Yet another FIH Pro League encounter, India is expected to face Germany on 22nd and 23rd May 2021. The future of this face-off though hangs in balance with the German government banning the travel of Indians to the country three days back due to the surge in covid-19 infections in India.

Badminton


Saina Nehwal


India Open

The Badminton Association of India (BAI), in consultation with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) had decided to indefinitely postpone the India Open which was to be supposed to be held from 11th – 16th May 2021 due to the deadly second wave of coronavirus in the country.

One of the final three Olympic qualification tournaments in badminton, the postponement of Indian Open meant that the Tokyo dream of top shuttlers like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth continues to hang by a thread.

Malaysia Open

One of the final two Olympic qualification tournaments in badminton, the Malaysian Open 2021 is expected to be held from 25th – 30th May 2021. With Malaysia imposing certain travel restrictions for Indians, there is a possibility that the Indian shuttlers might miss out on the event.

But as per the reports, the BAI is already in talks with the Malaysian authorities and things are expected to work out in favour of the Indians. If India is forced to withdraw from the tournament, top singles shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth would be left in doldrums with only the Singapore Open left to book their spot at the Tokyo Olympics.


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