Saina Nehwal lashes out at BWF for badminton's bio-bubble! But seems like she misread the rules

Bangkok, Jan 6: The badminton's bio-bubble has left India's top shuttler Saina Nehwal unhappy who has traveled here for the upcoming tournaments in Thailand. In a series of tweets, she has revealed her displeasure at some regulations imposed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) like denying the athletes access to trainers and physios, and urged BWF to address these issues at the earliest.

 

Nehwal said, "The physios and trainers cannot meet us during the entire tour after all of us have tested negative? How is it possible to maintain ourselves? We want to play the tournament in good condition. Please sort this @bwfmedia”. An Indian contingent is currently in the Thai capital to take part in the BWF World Tour Finals and two Super 1000 events, where the world's best players including Carolina Marin and Tai Tzu Ying return following a long break brought about by the pandemic.

 

She questioned, "No Time for warm ups / taping / cool downs / stretches..we are talking about the best players in the world competing isn’t it ? We’ve spent a lot of money getting the physios and trainers along with us . If they can’t help us then why was this not told before ?

 

 

She also complained about the rules imposed for the practice sessions. "Practice only for an hour everyday for the entire team ? Gym timings the same ... considering March being the important Olympic qualification period this is not good enough to be in good shape," she said. The former world number one said she tried contacting the BWF, but to no avail. "Tried contacting @bwfmedia but no reply .. so had to do this ..," she said.

 

However, it seems that Nehwal misunderstood the rules here as the BWF has stated that "all athletes and personnel in the ‘Green Bubble’ must stay in their room from 4 January until practice commences today (Jan 6)." It means it was only for the first three days of the quarantine that noone was permitted to step outside their rooms till the test results came in.

 

 

The BWF also clarified saying, "The strict procedures allow athletes to see their physios in their rooms once practice commences. A special procedure/appointment is needed for any personnel leaving their room to visit the practice hall, or in the case of a physio, the athlete they treat." Also, all countries were permitted two 1-hr slots on court in morning and evening.