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Covid-19 forces cancellation of junior Grand Prix badminton tourney in Pune
The decision was taken by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), as there is uncertainty regarding when sports action will resume.
India’s only junior international Grand Prix badminton tourney hosted in Pune annually since 2011 has been cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The decision was taken by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), as there is uncertainty regarding when sports action will resume. The tournament this year was slated to happen from August 4-9 at the Modern sports complex, Shivajinagar.
The tournament is also known as Sushant Chipalkatti memorial junior international badminton championship.
“The tournament is always special as top junior players from countries come to take part in this tourney. As a host, the Pune District Metropolitan Badminton Association (PDMBA) is always excited to conduct this event but due to Covid-19 we cannot do anything,” said Ranjeet Natu, honorary secretary of PDMBA.
In 2019, Ken Yon Ong from Malaysia defeated Meiraba Luwang from Manipur to claim the title.
The first tournament was hosted as a district-level event in 1983 at the Laxmi Krida Mandir Club – an affiliated club of PDMBA, since then it has advanced to one of India’s premier tournaments.
“In 1983, the first time we started age-group tournament, generally at that time the only tourney used to happen in the senior and under-19 category. In 1997 it turned out to be a national-level event and from 2011 it is conducted as an international tournament,” explained Natu.
Currently, PDMBA has no plans on conducting any tournament in the allotted time-space in August.
“With everything, uncertain nothing can be decided, the badminton association of India calendar is yet to be released, even we have not declared our calendar which is generally out in May but this year everything is pending,” said Natu.
PDMBA ready for action
PDMBA has kept the playing centre ready by installing sanitisation chambers and thermal temperature monitors.
“We have kept our centre ready, just waiting for notice from government and we can resume badminton from the next day after government allows,” added Natu.
