Kuala Lumpur: In a virtual press conference organized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Tuesday, the world badminton governing body defended its decision to postpone the three Asia legs of the World Tour to January 2021.
Those two Opens and the World Tour Finals were supposed to take place in Bangkok, Thailand in November, but BWF announced the rescheduling last Friday amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen said that it was the best decision BWF could make in a very difficult season.
“Based on the challenges we are facing, this is the best decision we could make,” said Høyer Larsen.
“I am confident with the security protocol that will be introduced later, the three tournaments can be held successfully when we return in 2021,” added Høyer Larsen.
He also expressed his sympathy for players who were affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are here for the players and we’re trying our best to get tournaments up and running,” added Høyer Larsen.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund also explained the difficulty of running the three Asian leg tournaments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had planned the European leg which included the TOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals and two Denmark Opens in October. At the same time, we announced we would plan an Asian leg. Setting up that level of events is a complex and big exercise. Simply due to time constraints, we are not able to conduct it before January, which was found to be the best time to get the logistical arrangements in place,” said Lund.
