Commonwealth Games 2018: After Saina Nehwal threatens to pull out, IOA clears her father's Gold Coast accreditation

What's the story?

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's father Dr Harvir Singh, who was earlier disallowed entry into the athletes' village at Gold Coast, was finally given accreditation, much to the relief of Nehwal and the rest of the Indian contingent.

In case you didn't know

Dr Singh, who had arrived in Australia with the Indian contingent, was not permitted to enter the athletes' village even though he was listed on the 'extra officials' list which irked Saina as she openly vented out her frustration at the sudden turn of events.

Surprise to see that when we started from India for commonwealth games 2018 my father was confirmed as the team official and I paid the whole amount for that but when we came to the games village ... his name was cut from team official category .. and he can’t even stay with me .

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) April 2, 2018

I wanted his support as I regularly take him for my competitions ...but i didn’t understand why nobody informed me all this earlier .. that he can’t enter anywhere #CommonwealthGames2018

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) April 2, 2018

He can’t c my matches and he can’t enter the village nor he can meet me in anyway .. what kind of support is this ..@thecgf

— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) April 2, 2018

The 2018 Commonwealth Games is set to commence from the 4th of April 2018 at Gold Coast, Queensland in which Saina Nehwal will be representing India in Group A and will face off against other shuttlers from Pakistan, Scotland and Sri Lanka in the round-robin stages.

Heart of the Matter

The 28-year-old, who clinched the gold medal in the women's singles event as part of the 2010 Commonwealth Games had earlier highlighted that her father's presence would serve as a morale-booster owing to which she opted to travel with him to Australia.

Dr Singh, on his arrival, was not allowed to enter the village which annoyed the shuttler as she sent a barrage of tweets that were targetted against the Indian Olympic Association forcing them to sort out the issue at hand.

However, the IOA then labelled him as an 'accredited extra official', which meant that he could not reside in the village. Vexed at the response, Nehwal threatened to pull out of the competition if her father's accreditation was not cleared soon.

Saina's letter to the IOA. (Photo: Twitter)

Shortly after the mini-battle ensued, the IOA confirmed via another tweet that the issue was resolved while also citing that Nehwal's father had received the required accreditation to enter the Village.

Accreditation resolved! Saina is all cheers now...'All is #Gold 🥇 that ends well' #AllTheBest @NSaina for #GC2018 #CommonwealthGames Make us proud! pic.twitter.com/ztBNDpbyUg

— IOA - Team India (@ioaindia) April 3, 2018

What's Next?

Saina Nehwal will now join forces with the likes of PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth to lead India's charge and hope to bring back more laurels for the country.

Author's Take

With the issue resolved at the earliest, Saina will now look to make optimum use of her father's support and recreate some of her 2010 Commonwealth Games magic yet again.