Indian women’s team pulls out of World c’ship

Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) said: “Considering the August 15 deadline, the SRFI had requested the World Squash Federation (WSF) for an extension which was not given.

August 03, 2020 11:07 pm | Updated 11:07 pm IST - CHENNAI

India has withdrawn from the women’s world team championship scheduled in Kuala Lumpur from December 15 to 20, citing “lack of preparation, time and match-readiness” of its players, according to a press release from the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) here on Monday.

In a press release here on Monday, Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) said: “Considering the August 15 deadline, the SRFI had requested the World Squash Federation (WSF) for an extension which was not given.

“Due to uncertainties regarding guidelines for the safe travel of our athletes and staff for national & international tournaments — yet to be obtained from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) & Sports Authority of India (SAI) — coupled with lack of preparation time & match readiness of athletes, and after consulting our top players, the SRFI has decided to withdraw from the championship,” said Cyrus Poncha, SRFI secretary.

“I feel many nations might follow us. I have spoken with the Malaysian squash [federation] too and they are waiting for their government regulations. It’s touch and go. But we took a decision.”

The release added that SRFI is waiting for guidelines from MYAS & SAI for international participation with top priority being safety and security of the players & staff for any international event.

Training resumes

Meanwhile, practice resumed on Monday at the Indian Squash Academy here for the elite athletes with SOPs as laid out by the TN government and SDATN.

Joshna Chinappa, Velavan Senthilkumar, Abhay Singh and a few others trained for nearly one and half hours.

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