BWF Revises World Tour Competitions Due To COVID-19 Concerns

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Bernama) -- The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has decided to implement an adjusted tournament calendar in their World Tour competitions for this season following the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the world governing body’s statement issued Friday, the 2020 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals will proceed as usual from Oct 3-11 in Aarhus, Denmark. After the completion of the men’s and women’s badminton prestigious team event, the World Tour competitions will resume with the Denmark Open I and Denmark Open II tournaments in Odense from Oct 13-18 and Oct 20-25, respectively. BWF pointed out that after the Denmark Open, the World Tour would continue with three Asian leg tournaments in November before the season is closed with the World Tour Finals, but BWF has yet to decide on the dates and locations of the events. It said all remaining BWF World Tour tournaments stated on the initial calendar will no longer take place at the dates and locations originally listed. Meanwhile, BWF secretary-general, Thomas Lund in the same statement said, the world governing body and their affiliates could not organise various tournaments for this season since the COVID-19 has given a major impact on many countries. “Managing travel logistics between different territories where different entry and safety restrictions apply has been the biggest challenge, therefore, an adjusted tournament calendar was developed. “Our main concern has always been the health and safety of all participants and we have created a BWF Safety Protocols and Operating Procedures document to guide us in this process. We look forward to the return of international badminton and we thank all parties and participants involved in the planning process,” he added. -- BERNAMA