Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth's Olympic Hopes Virtually Over As Singapore Open Cancelled

Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth suffered a huge blow when the Singapore Open tournament, one of badminton's last Olympic qualifying events, was cancelled on May 12 due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

Star Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth's chances of booking berths for Tokyo Olympics are all but over after the world body on Wednesday cancelled the last qualifying event in Singapore due to the coronavirus-related travel restrictions. The tournament organisers Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) jointly agreed to cancel the Singapore Open scheduled for June 1-6. The Singapore Open, a Super 500 event on the BWF World Tour, was the last tournament offering Race To Tokyo ranking points inside the Olympic qualifying window. "In the interests of all players, tournament personnel and the local community's health and safety, the event has been cancelled. BWF can confirm the tournament will not be rescheduled," the BWF said in a statement. "All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants. However, rising COVID-19 cases globally led to complex challenges in managing inbound travel," the statement said.