CHENNAI: The Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad will be shut for at least the next week because of the threat of COVID-19. This is the latest elite sports academy to down its shutters in the country following Chhatrasal on Saturday. As a result, the seniors training at the academy will be at their respective homes for the foreseeable future. Doubles ace Chirag Shetty, for example, has decided to not come to the academy till April 1. “Now that the academy is shut, I’m going to be in Mumbai for the time being,” he told this daily. But considering this is an Olympics year, the 22-year-old is training on his own to ensure he stays in optimum condition.
“I was here before I left for Hyderabad so I know a few players who I can train with it,” he said. He is also staying in touch with partner Satwiksairaj Rankireddy on a daily basis. “We discuss our respective games to have that continuity going.” Rankireddy, for his part, is training with Krishna Prasad in his hometown of Amalapuram. Prasad is also a trainee at the academy.
Because the academy is going to be shut for sometime, even the players who returned from the All England Open have gone home. N Sikki Reddy, for instance, will stay at home for the next two weeks, in a bid to limit her movement. “I have read about it (COVID-19) and I think it’s good if I don’t step outside my house that often,” she said. “I’m not saying I have it or something but I have read that it affects old people so I will have to take care of myself.”
But because she doesn’t want to completely stay idle for the next two weeks, she will train at Sumeeth academy. “I have told myself that’s the only time I will step out. He has shut his academy so I will have a session there everyday.” Her regular women’s partner, Ashwini Ponnappa, will be in Bengaluru for the foreseeable future. “She will train there,” Reddy said. “In a way, this break will be good because Ashwini can now concentrate on her rehab and that is what she told me.”
The World No 29 also hoped that there would be some development on the doubles coach by the time the team returned. “Flandy (Indonesia coach Flandy Limpele) has left so, technically speaking, we don’t have a senior coach. We haven’t heard anything yet,” she said. A final decision on how many days the shutdown will last will be decided by chief coach Pulella Gopichand. “That decision will be taken by chief coach,” an insider said.
Other players who returned from All England may all self-quarantine for the near future as advised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). It remains to be seen what the protocols are for Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap, who went to Spain for the Spain Masters from February 18-23. However, they did come back to India before leaving for All England so if they will fall under compulsory quarantine as advised by the MoHFW is not known.
That advisory says: “all incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after 15th February shall be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days.” Kashyap couldn’t be reached.