BWF scraps Badminton Asia

The Badminton Asia Championships 2020 will no longer push through next month. The tournament was suspended by the sport’s governing body, Badminton World Federation, as countries across the world went into lockdown in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The tournament was initially slated to take place in Wuhan, China.

But, it was moved to Manila, and set to take place from April 21 to 26, 2020.

However, the rapid spread of the virus has forced the BWF to suspend all its remaining tournaments for the next two months.

“The health, safety, and well-being of all athletes, their entourage, officials and the greater badminton community remain as the top priority,” the BWF said in a statement sent to the Philippine Badminton Association.

So far, the last five tournaments in the qualification period for the Tokyo Olympics have been cancelled by the BWF due to the coronavirus.

Also called off were the Thomas and Uber Cup, the European Championships, Pan Am Individual Championships, Croatian International, and Peru International.

They are qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The PBA was awarded the hosting of the singles Asian Championships after successfully hosting the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Manila last February.

The rankings after the tournament in Manila would have helped decide which players will be at the Tokyo Games.

Other Olympic qualifiers cancelled were the Croatian International, Peru International, European Championships, Asia Championships and Pan Am Individual Championships in Guatemala City.

“All five tournaments were slated to be played within the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying period, but will no longer contribute to Olympic qualifying as they will now fall outside the qualification window,” the BWF said in a statement.