Kate Foo Kune and Julien Paul will be able to resume Olympic qualification on a better basis.
Like many federations and disciplines, world badminton welcomed the dismissal of the Tokyo Olympics. On the side of Mauritius, the two badists in search of an Olympic qualification, Julien Paul and Kate Foo Kune, will have time to focus on their personal and professional goals because they were uncertain about their qualification.
First African in the world ranking of Badminton World Federation (BWF), Julien Paul sees this referral as “A good initiative for the safety of athletes”. “It involves a lot of other things. First, the qualifying period was not over so we wondered what the implications were for the future. Second, no official date has been confirmed for the Olympic Games in the current context. And finally, waiting and training for another year like I did is not without sacrifices. I put my studies on hold for a year and a half to qualify for the Olympics; I will have to make another decision in relation to that and also in relation to the family ”, he maintains.
For her selection partner Kate Foo Kune, who is currently in the Czech Republic, the chances of qualifying will now be fair as she missed almost five months of the qualifying period due to her suspension due to a doping test presumed positive for an anabolic steroid at the African Championships in Nigeria last year. Although having been cleared in this case, the Mauritian had found herself lagging behind her competitors. This dismissal could therefore allow him to start from zero for the qualification period.
