Coronavirus outbreak pushes sports to a back seat in India – A blog by Debasis Sen

The novel corona virus (COVID-19) has a telling effect on sports in India as well. The global pandemic has led to the cancellation or rescheduling of numerous sporting events in the country. The biggest impact of the corona virus outbreak in the country has been the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which was supposed to start on March 29. The cash rich league is easily the biggest in terms of viewership, revenue earnings, popularity on a global scale. But the COVID-19 outbreak has led to the Board of Cricket in India (BCCI) officials to defer IPL 2020 until April 15. The BCCI along with all the IPL franchises have reiterated BCCI’s stand of putting safety and well-being of fans, athletes and employees as a priority. The board will continue to monitor and work closely with Government of India, state governments and other state regulatory bodies to decide on the future course of action in the best interest of public health.

The BCCI and all its stakeholders have reiterated their commitment towards providing a safe and healthy environment for everyone involved in our great sport and the nation.

Let us take a sneak peek at the sporting events that has been affected due to the global pandemic:

Cricket

Apart from the rescheduling of the Indian Premier League, the cricket board has also decided to

cancel the remaining two matches of the ODI series between India and South Africa — in Lucknow (March 15) and Kolkata (March 18). All the domestic matches have been put on hold until further notice. The Irani Trophy which involves the Ranji Trophy winners and Rest of India will now be held at a later date. Sourashtra achieved the rights to play the Irani Trophy by virtue of winning the Ranji Trophy this season beating Bengal in the final.

Senior Women’s One-Day Knockout, Vizzy Trophy, Senior Women’s One-Day Challenger, Women’s Under 19 One-Day knockout, Women’s Under 19 T20 League, Super League and knockout, Women’s Under 19 T20  Challenger Trophy, Women’s Under 23 knockout, Women’s Under 23 One-Day Challenger have all been put on hold till further notice.

 

Football

The final of the Indian Super League between ATK and Chennaiyin FC was played behind closed doors in Goa on March 14. ATK, who trounced Chennaiyin FC 3-1 to lift the title for a third time had to celebrate their victory in an empty stadium. The All India Football Federation

(AIFF) suspended all tournaments until March 31. It meant all the remaining 28 matches of the I-League will now have to be rescheduled. India’s 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Qatar scheduled for March 26 in Bhubaneswar has also been postponed.

 

Badminton

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) was forced to postpone the Indian Open after a directive from Badminton World Federation (BWF) which stated that all the tournaments across the globe will be upheld until April 12. The Indian Open was scheduled to be held in New Delhi from March 24-29. However, BAI and the BWF had later issued a joint statement saying the event will go ahead as originally planned as it is a crucial tournament as ranking points earned until April 26 will determine who makes the cut for the Tokyo Olympics. India’s HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sourabh Verma decided not to participate at All England Open this year owing to the situation globally.

 

Boxing

Thirteen Indian boxers and almost an equal number of coaching staff members have been “home-quarantined” for a few days on returning from the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Jordan on March 12. Of those 13, nine boxers – including Mary Kom, Vikas Krishan and Amit Panghal – sealed Tokyo Olympics berths in Amman, where the qualifiers were shifted from Wuhan after the outbreak began in the Chinese city.

 

Golf

The Hero Indian Open, scheduled to take place from March 19-22 at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, New Delhi, has been postponed due to the ongoing threat posed by the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). In a statement issued by the organizers, it said the decision was made following consultation between the Indian Golf Union, the tournament’s co-sanctioning partners – the European Tour and the Asian Tour – and the tournament title sponsor Hero MotoCorp Ltd, after the latest public health travel advisories announced by the Indian government. All parties are looking into the possibility of rescheduling the tournament at some point later in the year, but there are no definitive plans at this stage.

 

Shooting

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) has recommended to the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) that the New Delhi World Cup, scheduled for March 15-26, be postponed due to the outbreak. The Tokyo bound Indian contingent were forced to cancel their scheduled training plans in South Korea due to the outbreak in the country. India also pulled out of the ISSF shotgun World Cup to be held between March 4 and 13 in Cyprus, citing the threat posed by the novel coronavirus.

 

Tennis

The Indian women tennis team will have to wait before the International Tennis Federation (ITF) releases a new date for the Fed Cup finals playoffs which were supposed to be held in various locations worldwide. India is supposed to face Latvia or the Netherlands in the playoffs in April.

The Indian Fed Cup team comprising of seasoned pro Sania Mirza, Ankita Rana and Rituja Bhosale created history by defeating Indonesia 2-1 to claim the play offs berth for the first time in Indian tennis history.

 

Table Tennis

India’s highest-ranked player G Sathiyan’s pre-Olympic training plans have been thrown off gear. The world body, ITTF, had proposed to hold a camp in Japan a week ahead of the Japan Open (April 21-26) which Sathiyan was also hoping to be part of, but now the tournament itself appears to be in doubt.

 

Athletics

The cancellation of the World Indoor Championships in China (Nanjing, March 13-15) has landed a body blow to Dutee Chand’s Olympic qualification aspirations. It was preceded by the calling off of the Asian Indoor Championships (Hangzhou, February 12-13), which much like the World meet was focal to Dutee’s plans of building on her speed to shave 0.07s off her 11.22s personal best. Both events have been cancelled summarily with no alternate venues proposed. The qualifying mark for the 100m women’s event is set at 11.15, a steep ask for Dutee.

 

Weightlifting

Former world champion Mirabai Chanu’s aspirations of a berth in Tokyo Olympics 2020 has hit a roadblock as the Asian Weightlifting Championships in April, an Olympic qualifying event has been postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. India were to send five men, including Youth Olympics gold medallist Jeremy Lalrinnunga (67kg), and four women, including Chanu (49kg), to the April 16-25 gold-level Olympic qualifying event in Uzbekistan. A decision on the Championships will be taken at a meeting in Lusanne, Switzerland on March 17-18.

 

Chess

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) has postponed all national championships till May 31, in view of the outbreak.