Bangalore: If there wasn't enough doubt already about the participation of India's top shuttlers in the National championships in Bangalore next month, the Badminton Association of India's plan to exempt those players involved in Olympic qualification will be an indicator of things to come.
The sport's governing body decided in an executive committee meeting in Lucknow last week that six shuttlers - Saina Nehwal, P Kashyap, Ajay Jayaram, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa and Valiyaveetil Diju - may be allowed to skip the January 17-25 event to focus on qualification events for the London Games in July 2012. Confirming this to TOI, Karnataka Badminton Association secretary NC Sudhir said that it was unfortunate that Bangalore would not see top shuttlers in action.
TOI