The joint efforts of Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) have bore fruits as five-member Indian badminton unit returned home on Tuesday.
They were quarantined in Germany after one of them found Covid-19 positive.
In a major relief to Lakshya Sen, Ajay Jayaram and Subhankar Dey, coach DK Sen and a physiotherapist landed in Bangalore on Tuesday morning.
Lakshya’s father cum coach DK Sen was tested Covid-19 positive last week following which the organisers of the SaarLorLux Open Badminton tournament put all of them in isolation.
The trio of Ajay Jayaram, Lakshya Sen and Subhankar Dey were forced to withdraw from the BWF Super 100 badminton tournament, which is the last tournament of the year.
Playing it safe, the organisers — Germany Badminton Association — quarantined the Indian players jeopardizing their chances in the tournament.
Ajay Jayaram, Lakshya Sen and Subhankar Dey were scheduled to play their respective men’s singles second round matches when organisers forced them to pull out citing their contacts with DK Sen.
All of them were scheduled to be in isolation at one of hotels in Germany till November 10. However, the trio requested BAI and SAI for help. Acting promptly, the authorities managed to convince the organisers and arranged for their return journey soon.
The BAI has thanked Badminton World Federation, Germany Badminton Association and SAI for providing their vital help in bringing home all of them.
All the five members including three players have been asked to remain home quarantine for a week before they resume their practice.
Ajay Jayaram and Subhankar Dey are from Maharashtra.
Nagpur’s ace shuttler Malvika Bansod, who also participated in the same tourney, returned home from Germany on Monday.