Turkish Badminton Player Neslihan Yigit Is In One Airplane With The Indonesian Team, How Come It's Not WO?

Turkish women's singles player Neslihan Yigit (Instagram @eslihanyigits)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian team was forced to resign or was declared a walkover (WO) from All England 2021. The withdrawal was carried out after the discovery of a positive case of COVID-19 on one of the plane passengers on a flight with the Red and White team from Istanbul to Birmingham. However, this decision raised a big question mark.

The World Badminton Federation (BWF), through its official website, said that BWF and Badminton England had contacted a number of players and members of the Indonesian badminton team. Based on the Test and Trace or tests and tracing from the National Health Service (NHS), the Indonesian team is required to isolate themselves as soon as possible.

As reported in Jawa Pos, the NHS sent emails to 20 of the 24 members of the Indonesian team who were in Birmingham. They ordered the Indonesian team to return to the hotel to undergo isolation until March 23.

In the email, it was explained that if a person is on a flight with a person who is positive for COVID-19, then that person must undergo an isolation period of 10 days. Even though the person is negative for COVID-19 based on the latest tests.

"In accordance with the requirements of the British Government, the entire team will self-isolate for 10 days from the date of incoming flight after someone who is on the same plane as the Indonesian team tested positive for COVID-19," wrote BWF on its official website.

PP PBSI then revealed four names who did not get an email to undergo quarantine, they were men's doubles player Mohammad Ahsan, Irwansyah (men's singles assistant coach), Iwan Hermawan (PP PBSI sports science sub-head), and Gilang (massuer).

"All Indonesian players will not be able to compete in the current or future tournament rounds and have therefore been withdrawn from the YONEX All England Open 2021," continued a BWF statement.

"While we regret these unfortunate consequences, BWF and Badminton England will continue to follow all protocols required by the UK Government and local health authorities to ensure the safety of all participants."

BWF stated, all results and match schedules to date will remain valid and the draw will remain unchanged. All opponents scheduled for the next round will be declared walkovers (WO).

Surprisingly, the Turkish women's singles player Neslihan Yigit was not declared a WO. In fact, he was on the same plane with Indonesian fishermen. It is possible that Yigit and Ahsan, Irwansyah, Iwan, and Gilang were not closely tracked by an anonymous person who was positive for COVID-19 so he did not get an email from the NHS to carry out independent isolation.

It was also reported that Turkey WS player Neslihan Yigit was on the same flight as the Indonesian team but her second round match vs Akane Yamaguchi is still scheduled today.#YAE2021

— Badminton Talk (@BadmintonTalk) March 18, 2021

This decision is of course very painful.