COVID-19:BWF Cancels 2020 World Junior Championships

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- The 2020 World Junior Badminton Championships which is supposed to be held from Jan 18-24, 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand has been called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, besides the entry restrictions imposed by the country. The decision was jointly agreed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Badminton New Zealand and also the organiser, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED). BWF secretary-general Thomas Lund in the statement today said the postponement is unavoidable due to the current COVID-19 situation, but revealed that New Zealand would be hosting the 2024 edition. “With a host for the next edition already in place for later in 2021 (in China), and the uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation expected to stretch into next year, postponement was not an option,” he added. Initially, the annual meet was supposed to be held in September 2020, but the BWF decided to postpone the tournament to Jan 2021 in view of the global COVID-19 situation. In 2018, the BWF Council decided to award the hosting right of the tournament to China in 2021, Spain (2022) and the United States in 2023, making 2024 as the next available year. “We appreciate that some junior players will turn 19 years old in 2021, and unfortunately miss out on a BWF World Junior Championships experience. We can only encourage them to continue to develop their talent as badminton athletes and start to enter open international events,” Lund added. After the world junior tournament, New Zealand are scheduled to host the 2025 World Senior Championships. -- BERNAMA