New Delhi, Dec 23 (PTI) Runners-up Haryana have lodged a protest against winners Tamil Nadu for fielding two players with BWF IDs from UAE in the mixed team finals of the Yonex Sunrise 45th Junior National Badminton Championship in Bhubaneswar.

The two players — Dhiren Ayyappan and Dev Ayyappan — played a vital role in the final as they beat the pairing of Budhwar Anshul and Singh Manraj 22-20 21-15 in the boys doubles to help Tamil Nadu beat Haryana 3-2 and lift the trophy on Tuesday.

In protest, the Haryana junior team wrote a letter to the chief referee Uday Sane, apprising him of the issue and demanding that the Tamil Nadu team be disqualified.

“As per BAI, no foreign player can participate in the team championship of National championships. Thus looking into the circumstances, the Tamil Nadu team must be disqualified and the Haryana Junior team may please be declared winner,” Haryana Junior team manager Devender Kharb said in his letter.

However, both Dhiren and Dev also possess Badminton Association of India (BAI) IDs as well.

In 2021, another player Nikhar Garg’s request for participation in All India ranking tournaments was rejected by BAI as he had a BWF ID from Badminton England.

“It is a matter of eligibility, which is BAI’s domain. BAI sends entries and we look after the technical side of it. It is difficult to find out or disqualify a player because both these players have Indian passports, Adhaar cards and BAI IDs,” Sane told PTI.

According to a source, following the incident the governing body has set December 31 as a deadline for players to surrender their foreign BWF ID to participate in the All-Indian ranking, national and state tournaments.

“BAI came out with a directive yesterday that players who have BWF ID from other countries should surrender it by December 31 or else they will not be eligible to participate in the domestic tournaments,” the source said.

The individual events are currently underway in the 45th Junior National Badminton Championships.

Source: PTI News