The Singapore Open, the last of the qualifying events for the Tokyo Olympics, got cancelled on Wednesday. With this, there is no chance for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth to qualify for the Olympics, scheduled to be held in Tokyo in July-August.

Already, the chances of these two world No.1 players were hanging by a thread even before this tournament. The spate of cancellation of tournaments due to the surge in the novel coronavirus cases affected their chances.

This would be the first time since the 2008 Beijing Olympics that Saina would not be seen in action at the quadrennial games.

Badminton World Federation (BWF) said in its release, "Tournament organisers Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) have jointly agreed to cancel the Singapore Open 2021 scheduled for June 1-6, 2021.

"All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants. However, rising Covid-19 cases globally led to complex challenges in managing inbound travel. Thus, in the interests of all players, tournament personnel and the local community’s health and safety, the event has been cancelled".

The world body said that the tournament will not be rescheduled.

The BWF, however, offered a glimmer of hope to these two Indians as it said in its official release, "BWF will issue a further statement on Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying at a later date."

But if the Olympics are held as per schedule, there is no time to conduct any tournament, virtually slamming the door on these two Indian stars.

(With inputs from agencies)