Shuttler Ajay Jayaram ‘not allowed to board’ flight to Denmark

New Delhi, Shuttler Ajay Jayaram has said he was not allowed to board a flight on Friday morning from Bengaluru to Denmark, where he is scheduled to play in the Denmark Open Super Series.

The rest of the Indian squad, including Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and Shubhankar Dey, flew with Air France from Delhi the previous night, while Jayaram was flying with the British Airways on Friday morning.

In a series of tweets, the 33-year old said he was not allowed to board the flight, despite carrying the same Type C Schengen Visa, as well as Covid-19 negative certificate like the rest of the players.

“I need to travel from Bangalore to Denmark tonight for the Denmark Open. I have a valid type C visa with Covid negative certificate and invitation letter from organisers stating my cause is worthy. I want to know if I can travel by Air France. Please let me know,” he tweeted while appealing to Air France to let him fly with them while tagging the airline along with BWF and BAI.

“I wasn’t allowed to board British Airways flight this morning. The rest of the Indian team has flown out with Air France last night from Delhi having the same type C schengen Visa as me. Kindly help,” he wrote in another tweet, tagging Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and the Prime Minister’s Office Twitter handle.

The Super 750 tournament, which is expected to signal the restart of the sport’s international calendar post the Covid-19 hiatus, is set to be played from October 13 to 18 in Odense.