BAI postpones all domestic badminton tournaments due to rise in COVID-19 cases

BAI postpones all domestic badminton tournaments due to rise in COVID-19 cases

Badminton (Representational Image)

The second wave of COVID-19 has hit India hard and the number of positive cases is increasing by the day. Even as talks of a lockdown and the like continue among the concerned circles, sports authorities have been forced to take action with regard to postponement and cancelation.

Badminton is the latest to fall prey as all domestic badminton tournaments have been posted by the Badminton Association of India (BAI). As a result, various tournaments that were scheduled for the near future such as one in Bengaluru which was scheduled from April 18-25 as well as other junior and sub-junior tournaments in Hyderabad that were scheduled for May have been postponed indefinitely.

BAI Media releases statement about postponement

Badminton Association of India (BAI). (Photo: Twitter/@BAI_Media)

BAI Media took to Twitter today to announce the news of the postponement, “With the exponential rise in the number of COVID+ cases across the country, BAI President Himanta Biswa has decided to postpone all the upcoming domestic tournaments starting with Banglore (April18-25) followed by junior and sub-junior in Hyderabad in May.”

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Apart from in India, various events around the world have also been affected. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced today that various events like the Indonesia Masters 2021 Super 100 tournament as well as the Russian Open 2021 were cancelled due to the pandemic.

“The ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and complications left local organisers no choice but to cancel the tournaments. The respective decisions of the national badminton federations of Russia and Badminton Indonesia were made in consultation and agreement with the BWF,” BWF stated in an official release.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc and one can only hope the second wave does not lead to even more hindrance in the already tight scheduled of various sports including badminton.

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