BWF MEDIA UPDATE
Following the rescheduling of the Asian leg of the HSBC BWF World Tour 2020, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) can now provide further updates on the World Rankings system and the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020 qualification process.
World Rankings
World Ranking points will be awarded for tournaments played in 2020, including:
- DANISA Denmark Open 2020
- SaarLorLux Open 2020
- Grade 3 tournaments including the following which have already taken place:
· YONEX Latvia International 2020
· FZ FORZA Bulgarian International Championship 2020
The points, however, will only be applied once the World Rankings are unfrozen. The final process and timing of unfreezing are to be confirmed.
The draws and seeding for the remainder of the 2020 season will be based on the frozen World Rankings (17 March 2020). This will apply to remaining Grade 3 tournaments of this year, and the Asian leg of the HSBC BWF World Tour 2020 in January 2021.
The originally planned “Tentative World Rankings” will no longer apply, due to the changes to the 2020 tournament programme (postponement of the TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2020, cancellation of the Denmark Masters and moving of the Asian leg to January 2021.)
Qualification to HSBC BWF World Tour Finals
Players will qualify for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020 in Bangkok (Thailand) according to current regulations.
The exception to that is current world champions will not get an automatic invitation (World Tour Regulations, Clause 8.2.3) and only points earned from World Tour tournaments will be taken into account. The SaarLorLux Open 2020 is not part of the qualification process.
The remaining Grade 2 tournaments counting towards qualification are:
- DANISA Denmark Open 2020 (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750)
- Asia Open I 2020 (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000)
- Asia Open II 2020 (HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000)
Due to necessary adjustments to the original European and Asian legs and the originally planned safety/quarantine procedures, players do not have to participate in both the European and Asian legs to qualify for the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020.
However, players must be entered in both Asia Open I 2020 and Asia Open II 2020 to qualify for the season finale.
The players must arrive in Thailand at the required date/time (to be advised) ahead of the start of Asia Open I 2020. It is not possible for players to arrive later (e.g. during either Asia Open I 2020 or Asia Open II 2020) due to safety and quarantine requirements.
BWF will share more information on the unfreezing of the World Rankings and the Asian leg tournaments at a later date.
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