India Open Badminton Tournament postponed due to surge in COVID-19 cases

The BWF said in its statement, “The decision was made in consultation and collaboration with local health authorities in Delhi and the Badminton World Federation.” 

The India Open badminton tournament scheduled for May 11-16 has been postponed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI), the Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced on Monday.

The BWF said in its statement, “The decision was made in consultation and collaboration with local health authorities in Delhi and the Badminton World Federation.”

“All attempts were made by organisers to conduct a safe tournament environment for all participants, but the recent spike in COVID-19 cases and gravity of the situation in Delhi left BAI no choice but to postpone the tournament,” the statement added.

General Secretary of BAI Ajay Singhania has said, “Considering the current challenges, BAI is left with no option but to announce the postponement of the tournament for the time being. We had an entry of 228 players and close to 300 peoples gathering including coaches, support staff and officials and the circumstances are such that the 2021 edition of Yonex-Sunrise India Open seems for now a very risky affair. Several rounds of discussions were held with BWF as well as the Delhi Government and other stakeholders and accessing the safety of players and officials BAI needed to take this decision.” in a statement that has been posted on Twitter.

The tournament offered ranking points for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. It would have been crucial to the chances of Olympic bronze-medalist Saina Nehwal and former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth of making it to Tokyo 2020.

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