BWF, BAI mutually decide to cancel Hyderabad Open due to coronavirus

Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Thursday mutually decided to cancel the Hyderabad Open due to coronavirus pandemic.

Hyderabad Open was scheduled to be be played from August 11-16 but now it has been cancelled.

"Circumstances have and will continue to change in certain countries and territories and therefore BWF may be required to make further updates to the status of tournaments as and when necessary," BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said in an official statement.

"These changes announced today are necessary but do not directly impact the new BWF Tournament Calendar 2020, which was created to allow for changes as part of our framework for badminton's potential return," he added.

The Australian Open 2020 (HSBC BWF World Tour - Super 300) has also been cancelled by BWF. It carried "suspended" status until BWF and Badminton Australia could find suitable replacement dates.

Both parties have now agreed that it is not feasible to hold the tournament at a later date in 2020. The tournament was due to take place from June 2-7

The Gwangju Korea Masters 2020 (BWF World Tour - Super 300) scheduled to be played from November 24-29 has been also cancelled due to the coronavirus.

Badminton Korea will now host the Korea Open 2020 (September 8-13) in Week 37.

German Open 2020, Swiss Open 2020 and 2020 European Championships have been suspended for now and an announcement on these three tournaments will be made in due course.

Health, safety and movement restrictions are now quite varied across the globe as certain countries and territories slowly return to a new normal.

"We will continue to adjust to these changes to ensure any badminton activity 100 per cent complies to the rules and regulations of the World Health Orgzation (WHO), local health authorities, and international and domestic travel restrictions," Lund said.

"The revamped calendar is the main planning tool for hosts to orgse tournaments and players to compete again. We need the support and perseverance of all to get our ecosystem back to normal," he concluded.

( With inputs from ANI )