Lakshya pulls out of SaarLorLux Open after coach tests positive | Badminton News – Times of India

BENGALURU: Defending champion and second seed Lakshya Sen was forced to pull out of the SaarLorLux Open Super 100 badminton tournament in Saarbrucken (Germany) after his coach and father DK Sen tested positive for the coronavirus.
World No. 27 Lakshya, who received a first-round bye, was set to face Howard Shu of USA for a berth in the pre-quarterfinals on Wednesday. The shuttler and his support staff will now spend the next few days in quarantine at the hotel, it is learnt.
Lakshya, who had recovered well from a lower back problem to play a match in the Danish league last weekend, was among the first players to reach Saarbrucken from Copenhagen on Sunday.
With the organisers making no arrangements for Covid tests, Lakshya, his father Sen and physio Abhishek Wagh were asked to go to the Frankfurt airport to get themselves tested.
“In the tests, I and my physio Abhishek have been found negative. Unfortunately, my coach has tested positive, even though he has no symptoms. I feel that being in close contact with my coach who has tested positive, I should also isolate myself,” Lakshya said in a mail to the organisers.
“I am the defending champion of this event and I am very disappointed and sad with this development. Under the circumstances, I do not want to jeopardize the safety of other players and hamper the functioning of the tournament,” Lakshya added, while informing the organisers that he would like to withdraw from the tournament.
It was an anti-climactic end to Lakshya’s European sojourn, which had comprised of two tournaments and training sessions at the Peter Gade academy and the national training centre in Copenhagen as well as a Danish League match for the Hvidovre Club.
“I am surprised and disappointed that the organisers did not set up a testing centre at the venue. It is a low-budget tournament, no doubt, but they could have arranged for the tests to be done locally instead of asking players to travel to Frankfurt airport, which is around 200km away,” Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy director U Vimal Kumar said.
Results: Men’s singles (Round 2): Howard Shu (US) w/o 2-Lakshya Sen.
Women’s singles:Malvika Bansod lost to Kristin Kuuba (Est) 12-21, 19-21.