The Olympics postponement brought some relief but Indian shuttlers, including B. Sai Praneeth, are still wondering why the Badminton World Federation (BWF) is yet to freeze the rankings and sought clarity about the qualification process of the Tokyo Games.
The BWF had suspended all HSBC BWF World Tour events post the All England Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there were calls for the extension of the Olympic qualification period which falls on April 28.
This is the time
But now with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) postponing the Olympics to next year, shuttlers believe its time BWF immediately freezes the ranking.
“Our points are getting deducted even though the tournaments were postponed by BWF due to the coronavirus. Swiss Open got postponed but my points got deducted.
“So like this, if they keep slashing the points for all the qualifiers which were postponed, I don’t know what will happen,” Praneeth said.
“BWF should at least freeze the rankings, later they can decide about the qualification depending on the the dates of Olympics but as of now there is no clarity.”
Praneeth, who was set to make his Olympic debut, said he is not sure about his participation as he will have to fight again for points.
Process will start again
“If Olympics would have happened in July, I would have been sure about my qualification but since it is now a year to go, so the process will again be on and I will have to fight for ranking points again.
“It is not easy to maintain that ranking. I can’t say what will happen after one year,” he said.
