Don’t see badminton resuming without introduction of vaccine for coronavirus, says Sai Praneeth

Top Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth believes a vaccine for coronavirus is an absolute must for resumption of sports and it must be approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency so that athletes are not adversely affected.

Tennis’s men’s world No 1 Novak Djokovic had recently stated that he is against a compulsory coronavirus vaccination. “I have no such concerns but it shouldn’t affect sportspersons; the vaccination shouldn’t have drugs which are banned [from the sporting arena],” Praneeth told PTI.

“Wada may also consider that...If there is no performance-enhancing drug in it, then they can put that in the list [of drugs that can be consumed]. Logically, I don’t think the medicine in the vaccination will have any impact on performance of athletes,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected over 30 lakh people worldwide, has halted all sports, including badminton, across the globe with even the Tokyo Olympics being pushed to next year.

While the International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission head John Coates said a vaccine is not necessary for the Tokyo Olympics to go ahead next summer, Praneeth doesn’t see global sports events returning unless one is found.

“See, without vaccination, it will still be scary even if things get back to normal. As sportspersons we travel a lot, and now we will be scared to travel to countries such as China and Korea, which host a lot of tournaments,” he said.

Praneeth added: “Not only China, people have been contracting the virus in airports, so we will have to wearing masks, use sanitizers, keep away from others. In flights, we can’t practice social distancing.

“While playing, you can’t avoid touching the shuttle, which will be touched by players and umpires. Sometimes you take off you shirt, you wipe your face, or use napkins, you can’t be so aware all the time. So if there is a vaccine, people can be a bit relaxed, but without it, I don’t see badminton resuming.”

The Badminton World Federation has suspended all tournaments till July due to the escalation of the coronavirus outbreak. Praneeth feels there won’t be any tournaments this year.

He said: “I don’t believe this year there will be any tournament. Till September, no way. It has to start after everything comes under control. Now human trials have just started [reportedly] but it will take time because they have to get it approved and then produce for the whole world.

“Also there have been cases where people once cured after few months, have again developed symptoms, so there is still a lot of uncertainty.”

Confined to his house due to the lockdown, Praneeth said it will take at least six weeks to get back to match fitness.

“...because we will be starting from zero,” he said.

“We have to get our muscles strong, get endurance back only then you can start. Otherwise without strength and mobility, you will get injured if you play strokes such as jump smashes and all. So it will take time.

“Before this when we had such long breaks, it was for injury and that time, if we had a shoulder injury, we used to run, if we had a leg injury, we used to work on our upper body strength training or may be just stand and play but now we are doing absolutely zero.”

While courts have been out of bounds for Indian shuttlers, a handful of players elsewhere have already resumed their training.

“Some countries have already started playing and practising like Chinese Taipei. From May, Japan will start playing,” Praneeth said.

“I think we will be the last country to resume playing. But there is no point thinking about this because there is no clarity right now about the schedule and Olympic qualification.

“I’m relaxed. As of now, I am the No 1 from the country to qualify for Olympics, so I believe there will be some advantage,” he added.