Austrian shuttlers leave without informing

Two Austrian players have left the World Badminton Championships without informing authorities and an official said they might have gone because of the reported terror threat and the prevailing swine flu scare in Hyderabad.

Two Austrian players have left the World Badminton Championships without informing authorities and an official said they might have gone because of the reported terror threat and the prevailing swine flu scare in Hyderabad.

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Juergen Koch and Peter Zauner, who were supposed to play their men's doubles match against sixth seeded Dane combo of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, pulled out without informing the organisers.

"It's there personal decision but they didn't inform us. I think they might have been scared of the last two day's developments of security threat and swine flu scare," a Badminton World Federation official said on condition of anonymity.

However, Australia singles player Michael Lahnsteiner, who lost to sixth seed Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro on Tuesday, and his coach have stayed back.