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Asian Leg of the HSBC BWF World Tour Postponed, Season to Conclude in January 2021

By: Editor
Date: 25 Sep, 2020
Image Courtesy: GoBadminton
The HSBC World Tour 2020 will now conclude in 2021, as the world governing body BWF announced the rescheduling of the Asian leg of the tour – now pushed from November 2020 to January 2021, to be held in Bangkok.

New dates announced spell out two Super 1000 Series from 12th January to 17th January 19th January to 24th January; followed by the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals from January 27th to January 31st. 

This latest revision means that the 2020 season will conclude in 2021, and will have a major impact on the rankings, next seasons calendar and various other aspects but it looks like the governing body has little choice right now.

“It was agreed by the BWF Council that staging the Asian leg in November as originally planned was no longer a viable option in being able to guarantee the highest standard of tournament including securing all logistical arrangements for players and participants,” said BWF in its latest press release.

The world governing body will soon publish detailed tournament information such as safety protocols and operating procedures, plus impacts upon World Rankings and next season’s BWF Tournament Calendar.

In an open letter addressed to fans, players & media BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer acknowledged the challenges before the world body but also explained that the solution being worked out is the best possible one, allowing for conclusion of the current tour and resumption of the 2021 world tour.

“The logistical difficulties and commercial complexities that faced us, mixed with understandable personal concerns about COVID-19, placed us in a very difficult situation.

“From the start, we emphasized we would only see a return to international badminton if it was safe and logistically possible to do so. Therefore, for the past six months, we have been 100% dedicated to preparing for the safe return to international badminton,” the president explained.

BWF will go to extreme lengths for player safety, and implement a bio bubble to create a safe badminton ecosystem and putting in place a robust testing process onsite at venues to protect all participants from contracting COVID-19 at tournaments, he added.

Requesting everyone in the badminton community to keep spirits high and continuing playing badminton despite the challenges. 

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