Kolkata: Former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal’s recent Twitter rant against the Badminton Association of India (BAI) over the “short notice” announcement of the Commonwealth and Asian Games Selection Trials has not elicited any further sympathy from the sports governing body.
Just after BAI issued the dates on April 2, 2022, Nehwal wrote to the BAI and said that she will be skipping the Selection Trials (April 15th-20th).
The 32-year-old Olympic bronze medalist reiterated her reasons for skipping the event in a Twitter post, citing the “back to back events non-stop” badminton calendar as a factor in her decision. By skipping the trials, the World No. 23 shuttler has put her spot in the CWG and Asiad squads in jeopardy, sparking a flurry of conjecture.
Surprised to see all the articles stating that I don’t want to defend my CWG title and my Asiad medal. I’m just not participating in the trials because I just got back from 3 weeks of Europe events andaccording tothe schedule there’sAsian Championships @BAI_Media @ianuragthakur
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) April 14, 2022
Meanwhile, a senior BAI official added, “There would be no exceptions given for Saina Nehwal.”
“This is the final tournament for the selection of players for the Thomas & Uber Cup, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games. There won’t be a second trial taking place later,” the official stressed.
Nehwal, who won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games after beating PV Sindhu, has claimed that the BAI is “glad to kick me out of CWG” since the shuttler has yet to get a response.
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