IT HAS been one step forward and two step backwards for the ongoing World Badminton Championship in Hyderabad. First, the prestigious tournament was hit by a security threat from the Lashkar-e- Taiba. Now the swine flu outbreak is giving players and organisers the shivers. However the good news from Hyderabad is that Malaysian Team Coach Jeremy Gan, who was hospitalised after showing swine flu symptoms, has tested negative for the virus. However, organisers were left red-faced when two Austrian shuttlers dropped out of the championship, even without informing authorities.

An official from the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said that the Malaysian coach, who was quarantined after showing flu-like symptoms was now stable and recuperating at the hospital. He also said that no other official or player at the championship had complained of flu-like symptoms.

On the disappearance of two Austrian players, the BWF official said that Juargen Koch and Peter Zauner were apparently scared by reports of the outbreak of swine flu and the LeT threat to the tournament. He also said that it was not possible to do much if players decided to leave on their own. He added that the BWF was presently concentrating on organising a good tournament and all efforts were being organised towards this end.

Earlier, in a major setback to the tournament, the English badminton team had left the tournament citing security concerns.