In a big relief to Malvika Bansod and her family, the ace city shuttler doesn’t have to go into quarantine in Germany.
The 19-year-old city girl was participating in the SaarLorLux Open BWF Tour Super 100 Badminton tournament along with a few other Indian players. Malvika is accompanied by his father Dr Prabodh Bansod. The year’s last international tournament is organized by the German Badminton Association under the auspices of the World Badminton Federation (BWF).
Ajay Jayaram and Shubhankar Dey were on Thursday forced out of the SaarLorLux Open after being sent into quarantine. The Maharashtra duo had come into contact with Lakshya Sen’s father-cum-coach, who is Covid-19 positive.
Defending champion Lakshya Sen withdrew on Wednesday after his father DK Sen tested a positive for the dreaded virus. Senior Sen, who is one of the coaches at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore, is asymptomatic at this point.
“BWF can confirm three players have been withdrawn from the SaarLorLux Open as a precautionary measure for all participants after they were in contact with a member of their team entourage who tested positive for Covid-19,†the BWF said in a statement.
“The three players — Lakshya Sen, Ajay Jayaram and Subhankar Dey — will not compete further in the tournament, which began on Tuesday,†it added.
Mumbai-based Ajay Jayaram and Subhankar Dey and Uttarakhand’s Lakshya and the team entourage have been placed in quarantine “in line with directives from tournament organisers, local health authorities and BWF tournament health protocols.â€
Malvika, Lakshya, Ajay and Subhankar had tested negative ahead of the tournament.
Malvika was also with these players during the combined practice of the Indian team members prior to the start of the tournament but she didn’t come in any contact with Senior Sen.
“Malvika and her father did not have to go into quarantine. It is a big relief for all of us. She will return home as scheduled on November 1. It would have been quite a big problem if she would have been put under quarantine along with the other Indian players,†said Sanjay Mishra, Malvika’s coach.
Malvika had lost her opening round 12-21, 19-21 against Kristin Kuuba of Estonia in 34 minutes on Wednesday.
Lakshya and Subhankar had received a bye in the opening round, while Ajay had won his first round on Monday.
 Courtesy: orangecitysports.com
