CHENNAI: Set for competitive action after a long hiatus, Ajay Jayaram suffered a hiccup on Friday as he was denied boarding by British Airways, for which he had a booking. However, he made a fresh booking from a different airline later and was set to depart in wee hours on Saturday.
Jayaram, one of the four Indians who’ll be taking part at the Denmark Open (Oct 13-18), was not allowed to enter the flight (Bengaluru to London) on Friday as he didn’t have a UK visa. With rise in number of coronavirus cases, UK has a 14-day period of self-isolation on arrival.
Ajay made a fresh booking with Air France after getting assurances from them that he won’t face similar issues. His new flight was scheduled for 1.30am (Saturday). “I’m hopeful that I won’t face any problem. I got a call from Air France that I can travel,” he told this daily.
Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and Subhankar Dey, the other three Indians set to be in action, left for Denmark from New Delhi in an Air France flight on Thursday. The Badminton Association of India claimed they’d informed all its shuttlers to opt for Air France with strict airlines rules in mind.
Jayaram, who’s not part of TOP scheme, however, said he did not get any such intimation. Subhankar is another shuttler who’ll be on his own in Denmark.