BWF announces revamped calendar for 2022; season starts in India

BWF announces revamped calendar for 2022; season starts in India

India Open will be held from January 11.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday announced the revamped tournament calendar for 2022, which will start with the India Open in the second week of January and end with the BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China.

BWF’s tournament schedule has been reviewed after the world governing body of the sport had to cancel or postpone half of the season in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

Season starting in India

Badminton Association of India will three tournaments in January

The 2022 season has brought good news to Indian badminton which saw the Badminton Association of India (BAI) failing to conduct both international and domestic tournaments due to rising COVID-19 cases in India.

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The upcoming season will start in India with the India Open from January 11. Syed Modi International, a BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament, (18-23 January) and Odisha Open, a Super 100 tournament, (25-30 January) are the two other tournaments BAI will conduct this year.

However, Hyderabad Open has been omitted from the BWF calendar. A decision on the BWF Tour Super 100 tournament can be taken later this year. As per the new schedule, BWF will conduct 50 tournaments, including six Super Series Premier tournaments, in 2022.

  • Week-Tournament-Dates-Level
  • 2 India Open 2022 11-16 Jan HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
  • 3 Syed Modi India International 2022 18-23 Jan HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 4 Odisha Open 2022 25-30 Jan BWF Tour Super 100
  • 9 Spain Masters 2022 1-6 Mar HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 10 YONEX GAINWARD German Open 2022 8-13 Mar HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 11 YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships 2022 16-20 Mar HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000
  • 12 YONEX Swiss Open 2022 22-27 Mar HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 13 Orleans Masters 2022 29 Mar – 3 Apr BWF Tour Super 100
  • 14 Korea Open Badminton Championships 2022 5-10 Apr HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
  • 15 Korea Masters Badminton Championships 2022 12-17 Apr HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 19 TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2022 8-15 May Major Championships
  • 20 Thailand Open 2022 17-22 May HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
  • 23 Indonesia Masters 2022 7-12 Jun HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
  • 24 Indonesia Open 2022 14-19 Jun HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000
  • 26 Malaysia Open 2022 28 Jun – 3 Jul HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
  • 27 Malaysia Masters 2022 5-10 Jul HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
  • 28 Singapore Open 2022 12-17 Jul HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
  • 29 Taipei Open 2022 19-24 July HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 30 YONEX Akita Masters 2022 26-31 July BWF Tour Super 100
  • 34 TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2022 21-28 Aug Major Championships
  • 35 DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2022 30 Aug – 4 Sep HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
  • 39 YONEX Canada Open 2022 27 Sep – 2 Oct BWF Tour Super 100
  • 40 US Open 2022 4-9 Oct HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 42 Denmark Open 2022 18-23 Oct HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
  • 43 YONEX French Open 2022 25-30 Oct HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
  • 44 Macau Open 2022 1-6 Nov HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 44 HYLO Open 2022 1-6 Nov BWF Tour Super 100
  • 45 YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open 2022 8-13 Nov HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
  • 46 CROWN GROUP Australian Open 2022 15-20 Nov HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 47 BARFOOT & THOMPSON New Zealand Open 2022 22-27 Nov HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
  • 48 VICTOR China Open 2022 29 Nov – 4 Dec HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000
  • 49 Fuzhou China Open 2022 6-11 Dec HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
  • 50 HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022 14-18 Dec HSBC BWF World Tour Finals

Cluster tournaments

BWF General Secretary Thomas Lund.
BWF Secretary-General Thomas Lund.

The new calendar has been made considering the viability of travelling across regions.

“The calendar is based on the principle of cluster tournaments primarily throughout Asia as well as traditional European tournament stops where the prospect of travel in that region is more viable,” the BWF stated in its press release.

“The goal has always been to put player safety first and with the success of the Asian Leg in January 2021 in Thailand serving as a gateway for international competitions to resume, the BWF Tournament Calendar for 2022 has a number of cluster tournaments planned to mitigate the complexity surroundings cross-border travel,” said Thomas Lund, the BWF Secretary-General.

However, the world governing body of the sport is yet to decide whether additional Super 100 tournaments will be added to the revamped calendar which will be apprised in near future.

Malaysia Open cancelled

In the meantime, Malaysia Open 2021, which was postponed in April due to the rise of positive cases in the country, has been cancelled. However, Malaysia Open 2022, a BWF Super Series tournament, will be held this year from June 28 to July 3.

Major Championships

India’s PV Sindhu is the reigning world champion in women’s singles.

Among the major championships, the BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2022 will take place in Thailand from May 8 to 15, while the BWF World Championships to be hosted in Japan from August 21 to 28.

Transition from COVID era

Badminton World Federation, the world governing of sport.

In the 2022 season, BWF will consider limiting the COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions currently in force in its tournaments across the continents. But the existing COVID-19 protocols will continue to be in force until the next announcement.

“It is likely that tournaments in 2022 will have BWF safety provisions around them. However, BWF hopes to gradually transition to conducting tournaments with fewer COVID-19 restrictions in 2022 as we slowly return to normalcy with less limitations on hosting international events,” BWF further stated in its release.