Yonex Thailand Open: Hong Kong duo withdraw after opponents’ coach tests positive
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Tse Ying Suet and Tang Chun Man
Hong Kong mixed doubles pair of Tse Ying Suet and Tang Chun Man withdrew from the ongoing Yonex Thailand Open on Friday. Their withdrawal gave their scheduled opponents Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich of Germany a walkover in round 2.
A German coaching staff member had tested positive for COIVD-19 in Bangkok. Hence, the Hong Kong pair was advised to pull out of the contest as it was unsafe to play their German opponents who were close contacts. Tse Ying explained this in her social media post. She added that although the German pair had tested negative several times, the “incubation period of 21 days” posed a risk.
‘I am really disappointed’ – Tse Ying Suet
Tse Ying Suet took to social media to announce the news of her and Tang Chun Man’s withdrawal from the tournament.
The post was written in Mandarin. Roughly translated, the caption read, “I am sorry to announce to you that we will withdraw from the competition today. The reason is because our opponents’ coach was diagnosed with COVID-19, and they are close contacts. We received a notice from the coach before the game,“
She further wrote that Hong Kong Institute of Sport discussed with the Badminton Association and the Olympic Committee was consulted before taking the decision. “The Hong Kong Institute of Sport discussed with the Badminton Association and the Olympic Committee were consulted and believed that it was not advisable to play them. Although they had tested negative many times, considering the incubation period of 21 days, it is still seen as dangerous,” she wrote.
The Hong Kong pair hadn’t participated in Denmark Open. Tse Ying noted that it was disappointing as they had looked forward to resume playing and had prepared for this.
“I am really disappointed now, because we have been preparing for this competition for a long time. We entered the closed training in the sports academy in mid-December. The preparation had also been fruitful. We had hoped that we could regain the rhythm of the competition in this competition. It’s a pity that I have no choice but to quit the match, and I feel that the hard work before is a bit in vain. But we respect the decision of the Sports Institute, because there will be other competitions in the future, and we also hope that the BWF can more fully protect our athletes so that similar incidents will not happen again,” she wrote.
Also Read: Yonex Thailand Open: Indian challenge ends with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa’s loss
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Ira Deokule
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