Tokyo Olympic-bound Indian shuttlers given a pep talk by BAI general secretary Ajay Singhania

Badminton Association of India (BAI) general secretary Ajay Kumar Singhania interacted with the Indian badminton team members in Hyderabad on Thursday. The BAI official Singhania met all the players and coaches and boosted their morale ahead of the Tokyo Olympics at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad.

The nine-member Indian team will depart for the Tokyo Olympics on July 17 from New Delhi. The Badminton events will start on July 24 in Tokyo.

Delhi-based Singhania traveled to Hyderabad to meet the players personally. Because of the strict COVID-19 guidelines, the badminton team will not be allowed to meet anyone at the New Delhi Airport on Saturday.

“The team is leaving from Delhi for Tokyo but we were told that they won’t be permitted to meet anyone due to COVID protocols. I came down to Hyderabad to interact with the players. On behalf of the BAI, I extended my good wishes to all four players. I honored them and spent considerable time with everyone,” said Singhania.

The players are satisfied with training at the big Gachibowli Stadium: Singhania

All four players - PV Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy – had completed their morning training session at the Gachibowli Stadium before they met Singhania.

“Our BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma had called all the players and spoke with them. He asked me to visit Hyderabad and boost the morale of the players. It is very important to lift their spirits before they leave for the Tokyo Games. As a national association, it is our duty to show our support to the players. They told me that doing practice at the Gachibowli Stadium really helped them,” said Singhania.

The nine-member Indian badminton team with Ajay Kumar Singhania and Pullela Gopichand

Singhania added that Sindhu’s coach Park Tae-Sang, Sai Praneeth’s coach Agus Dwi Santoso and doubles coach Mathias Boe were satisfied with the training ahead of the event.

Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand, physiotherapist Sumansh Sivalanka and Evangeline Baddam were also felicitated by Singhania.

On Saturday afternoon, the Indian team will reach New Delhi from Hyderabad before they catch a late evening flight to Tokyo.

Sindhu will launch her Tokyo Olympics campaign against Israel’s Polikarpova Ksenia on July 25. Sai Praneeth will take on Israel’s Misha Zilberman in his opening Group D match on July 24.

On the same day, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy will clash with Chinese Taipei's Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin in their opening Group ‘A’ outing.