Guwahati: Uneven court surface has forced the organisers of the Senior National badminton championship to postpone three pre-quarterfinal matches involving Saina Nehwal, P Kashyap and B Sai Praneeth to late evening.
Nehwal pointed out the two spots where the court was slightly uneven following which the organisers decided to shift the matches in the evening after consultation with the players.
Tournament organising secretary Omar Rashid conceded that one plank had come loose and hence they decided to make the changes for the safety of the players.
“PV Sindhu played her match on the same court and she did not complain about anything. We don’t want to risk injury to any player and hence we decided to first repair the court before restarting their matches,” he added.
Sindhu needed just over 30 minutes to beat Malvika Bansod 21-11, 21-13 in the pre-quarterfinals.
The other matches, however, would continue according to schedule.
The organisers had shifted the singles matches to the Assam Badminton Academy courts on Thursday as the main stadium has cement flooring and the top players were concerned about the load it could put on their shin and knees ahead of the All England championship.
Earlier, Sameer Verma retired from his pre-quarterfinal against Aryaman Tandon, complaining of ankle strain. The top seed had won the opening game and was trailing 1-8 in the second when he decided to concede the match.
“The strain first happened during the BWF Tour finals in China and I again felt the pinch while playing today. I didn’t want to take a risk,” he said.