Coronavirus | Gopi Chand welcomes BWF’s decision to suspend events

Says most of the campers at two of his academies are in ‘isolation’

Tough times: Gopi Chand feels it was not the ideal scenario to go ahead with the BWF events when the whole world is witnessing so many restrictions.

India’s chief national coach P. Gopi Chand welcomed the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) decision to suspend till April 12, all events from March 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is a good decision and one cannot ignore the health risk of players, officials and spectators. When the whole world is witnessing so many restrictions, it was not the ideal scenario to go ahead with the BWF events,” Gopi told The Hindu on the way back to Hyderabad from London.

Also read: Events affected by coronavirus in India

“I don’t say the players are scared but there was a serious element of concern which I feel was pretty genuine, given the kind of alarming reports that have been emanating from different parts of the world,” Gopi said.

“This is more so with those players who have been travelling around the world in search of winning important points to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

“I cannot straight away comment on the likely impact of the fresh guidelines to be issued for the qualification for Olympics. We need to know the cut-off date and the number of tournaments the players, especially those aspiring from India, can play to make the cut for the Games,” the former All England champion said.

“Unless, there is a clear message detailing the qualification norms, what sort of impact they will have on the players, especially those aspiring to make it from India,” the former All England champion said.

The tournaments which will be affected by the BWF directive on Saturday include Swiss Open, India Open 2020, Orleans Masters, Malaysia Open and Singapore Open and other International Grade III tournaments.