New Delhi, (Samajweekly) India’s Lakshya Sen has withdrawn from the SaarLorLux Open badminton after his coach DK Sen tested positive for Covid-19, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said on Wednesday.
Sen, the defending men’s singles champion at the tournament, was the second seed and was set to face Malaysia’s Howard Shue in the second round on Wednesday.
Sen, 19, his coach Sen, and a physio arrived in Saarbrücken, Germany, for the tournament on October 25 and were advised to travel to Frankfurt for COVID testing, said SAI.
“The reports were received on October 27 where Sen and his physio came COVID negative but his coach came positive [asymptomatic],” it further said.
“So as to not hamper the functioning of the tournament and jeopardise the other players, Sen has pulled out of the event and informed the organisers. Sen and his coach have requested for another COVID test in order to determine their return date to India,” it further said.
Shubhankar Dey and Ajay Jayaram are the other two Indians in the fray at the SaarLorLux Open. Sen previously played at the Denmark Open where he lost in the Round of 16 to Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus.
