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BWF cancels international tournaments amid COVID-19 pandemic
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has cancelled 13 Grade 2 and Grade 3 tournaments initially scheduled from May to July in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Indonesian men’s doubles duo Fajar Alfian and Rian Ardianto (background) play against China’s Huang Kai Diang and Liu Cheng during a Blibli Indonesia Open round-of-32 match at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex in Jakarta on July 17, 2019. Fajar and Rian won 18-21, 21-14, 21-16. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has cancelled a number of tournaments scheduled from May to July in light of the COVID-19 pandemic after previously suspending dozens of other tournaments.
Four Grade 2 tournaments and nine Grade 3 tournaments will be suspended indefinitely, according to the federation. One of the cancelled tournaments was the 2020 Blibli Indonesia Open, which was to be held in Jakarta from June 16 to 21.
“We understand the situation and support the BWF’s decision, especially seeing that the emergency period for COVID-19 has been extended until the end of May. Therefore, it will be impossible to hold the tournament on its original schedule,” Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) secretary-general Achmad Budiharto said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added that the association had sent a request to the federation to move the tournament’s date to September.
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“We will maintain our coordination with the BWF. We have also discussed several alternative dates for the tournament in Indonesia,” Achmad went on to say.
The PBSI has decided to continue preparing for the Indonesian tournament, including planning the event and reserving the tournament’s location.
Here is the list of competitions cancelled by the BWF between May and July:
The BWF has also frozen its world rankings until further notice. The latest rankings, which will be used for tournament registration, are those listed as of March 17.
