By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Citing the health scare due to coronavirus pandemic, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) has suspended all remaining tournaments for the next two months, including the Badminton Asia Championships 2020 that the country is hosting on April 21 to 26.
The tournament was initially schedule to take place in Wuhan, China but organizers moved it to Manila following the former’s lockdown due to the pandemic.
But the rapid spread of the virus forced the federation, as well as other major international tournament organizers to put their events on hold.
“The health, safety and well-being of all athletes, their entourage, officials and the greater badminton community remain as the to priority,” the BWF statement read.
Also postponed were the Thomas and Uber Cup, the European Championships, Pan Am Individual Championships, Croatian International and Peru International – important meets for players seeking points to earn berths at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Last February, the country hosted the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum that served as a qualifier to the Thomas and Uber Cup originally scheduled in Aarhus, Denmark in May.
