Door to India Open closed for 3 top teams

The Indian government’s decision to suspend visas for nationals of Korea and Japan could cull nearly half of the seeded players from the field for the upcoming India Open.

Photos: Badmintonphoto

A report today from Korea’s Yonhap News Agency confirmed that the Korean national badminton team contingent for the upcoming India Open had all had their visas suspended by the Government of India, amid fears related to the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus.  According to details on the Government of India website, the visa suspension also applies to Japanese nationals, while travellers from China had already been blocked from entering India for much longer.

The Yonhap report quotes a Badminton Korea Association (BKA) official as saying that they would re-apply for their visas, which had already been issued prior to March 3rd, but that the government criterion of ‘requiring to travel to India due to compelling reasons’ seemed to indicate that issuance of fresh visas was in serious doubt.  On February 26th, China withdrew, en masse, 19 of the 35 players they had originally entered in the event.  The rest may similarly be hoping to be issued visas.

For many of the Korean players, participating in the India Open is somewhat crucial for their future plans. The Koreans cannot return home after the Swiss Open without disqualifying themselves from the Singapore Open as well.  Doing so would run afoul of the current entry restrictions in the island nation, which bars from entering or transiting in Singapore anyone who has been in Korea, China, Iran or northern Italy in the past 14 days.  A few of the Tokyo hopefuls from Korea are slated to compete for 5 straight weeks, in England, Switzerland, India, Malaysia, and Singapore, followed by a week’s break before the Asian Championships in Manila.  An Se Young and the doubles players are not entered in the Swiss Open but had been slated to play 6 out of 8 weeks until the German Open was cancelled.  Now it is 5 out of 7.

If no player visas are re-issued, the India Open women’s doubles field will be hardest hit.  The only seeded pair not from China, Japan, or Korea is defending champion duo Greysia Polii / Apriyani Rahayu (pictured) of Indonesia.  However, in all, 19 of the 40 seeds in the combined disciplines are likely to be affected by the visa issuance measures.  In the past two years, there have been no Korean or Japanese players whatsoever at the India Open; however, strong results in Delhi were crucial to several Koreans’ ranking in the last two Olympic years.