Click to play videoNew Delhi: Chief Passport Officer, New Delhi, R Swaminathan has assured Saina Nehwal that her passport would be delivered to her on Saturday.
Swaminathan made the assurance when it was brought to his notice that Saina’s passport is caught in a bureaucratic wrangle and has not renewed by the Regional Passport Office of Hyderabad.
"Saina applied for the passport on December 2. It generally takes 15 days for reissuing a new passport. In this case seeing the urgency she should have applied through tatkal facility. I have spoken to the Hyderabad passport officer and now she will get the passport today itself," said Swaminathan.
Saina is scheduled to play in the BWF World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia which starts from Thursday (December 18).
Her coach and former All-England champion Pullela Gopichand revealed that Saina, India's best badminton player and world No.10, was invited to the tournament after two Chinese players ranked higher than her pulled out.
"It will be really sad if she misses the event because it is a season ending top 8 event which she got through only after two Chinese girls pulled out on Thursday night. One thing is that she was there on Decembder10, yesterday and day before, so it is not that she went only after office hours. She has been making rounds of the passport office everday for the last three days," said Gopichand.
Earlier, Saina slammed Hyderabad RPO for not even allowing her to meet the concerned officer.
"The passport officer didn't even want to meet me and so I couldn't explain my case to him. The passport office refused to renew my passport and asked me to come on Monday. I requested him thrice but to no avail," Saina said.
She, however, said she is still hopeful of getting her passport in time to join seven other players at the BWF World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia.
"I am in shock since yesterday. This is the highest tournament that an Indian player has got a chance to play. I will still try to make it to the tournament if I get the passport. I will go to Chennai and try and get the visa after that," she said.
"This does not happen to cricketers and film stars. Then why me? It's a very important tournament for me," she added.
According to reports, authorities had told Saina that her passport will not be renewed before next Monday.
Saina's renewed passport was to be issued by December 10 but the lapse on the part of the Regional Passport Office of Hyderabad may cost the badminton player one of the biggest opportunities of her career.
The BWF World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia from December 18 to 21 allows only world's top eight players to participate.
When she got the news of her qualification, she sought an appointment with the passport officer on Friday but her request was brushed aside, with the officer’s secretary telling her to come on Monday.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
 |
 |
 |
|
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.