Badminton singles player and London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal has begun her training at a separate facility in Hyderabad after a coronavirus-induced break. She is likely to join the national camp after a couple of weeks. Saina is one of the eight Olympic players who have been allowed by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to resume training at the SAI Pullela Gopichand Academy from August 7.

However, for the time being, the former world No.1 has decided to train with husband Parupalli Kashyap and 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt at a different center near the Gopichand academy.

“We have been training at a center near the Gopichand academy for a week now. It is a small facility. We started with the basics as it was after a long time that we were hitting the court,” Kashyap, a former Commonwealth Games champion, told PTI.

“Saina has just joined. She will probably start training at the Gopichand academy in a couple of weeks. She wants to get fitter and reach a decent level. She has sought the permission of Gopi sir and discussed it with new Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso,” he added.

Kashyap, currently ranked 24th in the world, believes the Gopichand academy is equipped with enough courts to accommodate a few more players, who can start training by following social distancing and other regulations laid down by SAI.

“Out of eight players, Chirag, Satwik, and Ashwini are not in Hyderabad right now, so only 4-5 players are training. There are nine courts and players generally train for an hour or two,” said the London Olympics quarter finalist.

“Since badminton is not a contact sport so it can be done. In Bangalore, everyone is training, and you need good sparring partners. How long can just eight players train?”, Kashyap said.

Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu, along with B Sai Praneeth and N Sikki Reddy, resumed training on Friday under strict safety protocols at the Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad, ending a four-month-long hiatus.

Among the other Olympic hopefuls, the men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who are currently in Mumbai and Amalapuram (Andhra Pradesh) respectively, are wary of the coronavirus threat and will wait for another couple of weeks before deciding on joining the camp.

Former world no.1 Kidambi Srikanth, based in Guntur, will resume training this week.