Coronavirus Outbreak: Badminton World Federation cancels August's Hyderabad Open in wake of COVID-19 pandemic

New Delhi: The Hyderabad Open badminton tournament, scheduled to be held in August, was on Thursday cancelled by the sport’s world governing body in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, days after the unveiling of a revised calendar. The tournament, set from 11 to 16 August, was one of the three to be held in India in the calendar announced by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on 22 May to restart the sport after the pandemic-forced cancellations since March. “BWF and Badminton Association of India have agreed to cancel the Hyderabad Open 2020 (11-16 August) - a Super 100 on the BWF Tour,” the BWF said in a statement.

There's some more changes to the status of tournaments this year 👇#HSBCBWFbadmintonhttps://t.co/NSdBWbHttB

— BWF (@bwfmedia) June 4, 2020

BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said circumstances have and will continue to change in certain countries and therefore further updates on the status of tournaments will be given as and when necessary. “These changes announced today are necessary but do not directly impact the new BWF Tournament Calendar 2020, which was created to allow for changes as part of our framework for badminton’s potential return,” he said. “Health, safety and movement restrictions are now quite varied across the globe as certain countries and territories slowly return to a new normal. Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand admitted that it would have been too difficult to commit to a tournament in August as Hyderabad is still under lockdown. “At the moment the lockdown is still on in Hyderabad and the Telangana government has still not decided when the sports infrastructure will open even though the central government has cleared it. We are just waiting for the information,” Gopichand told PTI. “…it will be too difficult for us to commit for a tournament in August.” The BWF also cancelled two other tournaments —Australia Open and Korea Masters —in view of the global health crisis. “It (Australian Open) carried ‘suspended’ status until BWF and Badminton Australia could find suitable replacement dates. Both parties have since agreed it is not feasible to hold the tournament at a later date in 2020. The tournament was due to take place 2-7 June. “The Korea Masters 2020 (HSBC BWF World Tour - Super 300) scheduled for 24-29 November is also cancelled. Badminton Korea will host the Korea Open 2020 (8-13 September) in Week 37,” the BWF said. Three tournaments still remain suspended and an announcement on these will be made in due course. These suspended tournaments are: YONEX German Open 2020 (3-8 March), YONEX Swiss Open 2020 (17-22 March) and 2020 European Championships (21-26 April). The BWF also released a revamped tournament calendar for the remainder of the 2020 season, but said further changes can be made later. BWF Tournament Calendar 2020 (Grade 1 and Grade 2): Lingshui China Masters: 25-30 August Yonex Taipei Open: 1-6 September Korea Open: 8-13 September China Open: 15-20 September Yonex Japan Open: 22-27 September BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals: 3-11 October Yonex Dutch Open: 6-11 October Denmark Open: 13-18 October Yonex French Open: 20-25 October New Zealand Open: 20-25 October Macau Open: 27 October-1 November SaarLorLux Open: 27 October-1 November Fuzhou China Open: 3-8 November Hong Kong Open: 10-15 November Indonesia Open: 17-22 November Syed Modi India International: 17-22 November Malaysia Open: 24-29 November Thailand Open: 1-6 December India Open: 8-13 December BWF World Tour Finals: 16-20 December. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak