Japan’s top-ranked men’s tennis player Kei Nishikori added his voice to concerns about staging the Olympic Games in Tokyo in July, as the country battles a surge in Covid-19 cases. Naomi Osaka, Japan’s No.1 women’s tennis player, raised similar concerns on Sunday, saying that the risks of holding the Games amid the pandemic should continue to be carefully discussed. “It’s 10,000 people in a Village, playing a tournament,” he added, referring to the Olympic Village where athletes will stay. It’s an extremely difficult task to do that and kick off the Olympic Games in July,” Iwata told Reuters. Several test events with foreign athletes have been successfully held, most recently on Sunday, but a visit by International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach scheduled for May 17-18 has been postponed until June.

Source: The Star May 11, 2021 06:45 UTC