English shuttlers pull out of Indian Open

Englands badminton players Carl Baxter and Rajiv Ouseph have withdrawn from the Indian Open starting next week...

Englands badminton players Carl Baxter and Rajiv Ouseph have withdrawn from the Indian Open starting next week after being advised against the trip by the British Foreign Office in London.

Tournament officials for the Hyderabad event feared that security concerns after the recent terror attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in neigbouring Pakistan had led to this decision. The communication stated that they were advised by the Foreign Office to withdraw, said tournament head Punnaiah Choudhary,also joint secretary of the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Andrew Smith the third of the Englishmen on the draw-sheet had pulled out earlier,owing to injury soon after the All England Super Series. Even the TT event the Pro Tour Indian Open saw 10 teams pull out at Indore earlier this month. This could be happening because of security worries, Choudhary said.

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Ouseph,22,is of Indian origin and had spent close to a month in India last year training at Prakash Padukones academy in Bangalore,and had played tournaments in Mumbai.

It might seem just a trickle of no-starts and not really high-profile ones,with Baxter seeded 11 here and Ouseph 12. However,with the World Championships scheduled for August at Hyderabads Gachibowli Stadium,this could be a worrying precedent,though the usual reluctant travellers UK and Australia have only a fringe presence in a sport which is predominated by shuttlers from Asian nations.

BAI president VK Verma insisted that there were no apprehensions for the August mega-event. Theres no threat of withdrawals to the premier tournament,where the best 64 in the world play on invitation. I dont think anyone would want to risk not playing such an important event, he stressed. He added that the citys police commissioner had assured adequate security for both the events,and there was no reason to panic.