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Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth will not be part of the Indian contingent that will fly to Tokyo for the forthcoming Olympic Games. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has formally announced that the last date for qualifying will be June 15 but there are no more qualifying events before that deadline.

While former world number 1 Srikanth and London Games bronze medallist Saina's hopes were dead and buried when the last Olympic qualifiers in Singapore was cancelled due to the COVID-19, there was still an outside chance when the governing body had stated it "will issue a further statement on Tokyo Olympics qualifying at a later date". However, now the official has arrived and there is no way the duo can make it for the marquee event.

No further tournaments will be played inside the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying window, says BWF

"The Badminton World Federation (BWF) can confirm no further tournaments will be played inside the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying window," the apex body said in a statement on Friday.

"As such, while the qualification period officially closes 15 June 2021 as per the Revised Tokyo 2020 Qualification System, the current Race To Tokyo rankings list will not change," it added.

Notably, owing to the health crisis, the world body had revised the qualification period extending to June 15 but were forced to cancel or postpone the last three qualifiers -- India Open, Malaysia Open and Singapore Open, leaving the likes of Nehwal and Srikanth no chance to secure qualification.