Singapore Open 2021: B Sai Praneeth pulls out due to ‘hard quarantine’ rules

Singapore Open 2021: B Sai Praneeth pulls out due to ‘hard quarantine’ rules- After Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy, India’s star shuttler B Sai Praneeth also opted out of the Singapore Open 2021. The Singapore Open will be played between June 1-5. India is suffering from the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It’s because we have to do 21 days quarantine and you can’t play even it is 14 days quarantine. Without practice it is very tough to play,” Praneeth said.

Praneeth who has secured a berth in the Olympics will take a break from training after pulling out of Singapore Open 2021.

Also Read: Malaysian Open 2021 postponed, Saina, Srikanth’s Tokyo Olympic dreams take big hit

“I was preparing for a very long time for Malaysia and Singapore. But once it got cancelled, I thought I’ll take a break and then start preparing for the Olympics. I’ve already done 7 weeks of hard training so I thought I could take a break,” he said. 

“The next 3 months will be tough non-stop and now that we aren’t travelling, we can train with focus,” Praneeth added.

More shuttlers are expected to follow in Praneeth’s footsteps due to the strict Covid protocols.

Also Read: Badminton great Prakash Padukone in hospital since last 10 days, recovering from COVID-19

Indian shuttlers in Olympics

• PV Sindhu
• B Sai Praneeth
• Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy

With the India Open cancelled and India pulling out of the Malaysia Open, only the Singapore Open remains. Being the final tournament on the list of Olympic qualifiers, the Singapore Open Super 500 event will definitely be the most important one. A mad scramble for points is expected at this USD 320,00 event, with shuttlers vying to enter the top-16 in a last-minute effort.