The Indian Sports Ministry has decided to vaccinate Indian shuttlers eyeing for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the next month. The Badminton’s Qualification period, which was suspended in March last year due to the Covid-19 outbreak, will resume from the next month with the Swiss Open.
We are approaching closer to the much-awaited 2021 Tokyo Olympics, while the preparations have already started. As per the recent developments, in a meeting conducted by the Sports Ministry, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and a few top-notch Indian shuttlers, have decided that the drive to vaccinate the Tokyo aspirants will start from next month.
The Badminton’s Qualification period, which was suspended in March last year due to the pandemic situation, will resume from the next month with the Swiss Open from March 2-7, followed by the German Open from March 9-14, with it extending till the India Open in May. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has already informed that Tokyo-bound athletes, coaches, and support staff would be vaccinated on priority from the governing authority.
Even though no dates have been finalised yet with shuttlers scheduled to travel abroad on tour in Match itself, the BAI secretary is confident of vaccinating from next month. Meanwhile, there has to be a gap of 28 days between the two doses of vaccine. Chirag Shetty, who attended the meeting, stated that he was eager to get vaccinated, even if it is 90% efficient.
“I will definitely take it, even if it is 90 % efficient. It will be a big relief, especially seeing the situation the Indian team faced in Thailand. Indian players had to withdraw and our participation was in doubt. If we are vaccinated and develop antibodies we won’t face such situations. We don’t want to be going through all this when the focus is Olympics qualifiers,” said Chirag Shetty, as reported by Hindustan Times.
