Further to the update on tournaments made on 29 April, the BWF announced that in close consultation and agreement with Badminton Oceania and Badminton Australia, that the following tournaments have been cancelled in September:
• Sydney International 2020 – 10 – 13 September 2020
• Bendigo International 2020 – 17 – 20 September 2020
“We’re disappointed that these tournaments cannot go ahead. Bendigo is a new venue which we were really excited about, while Sydney is an established tournament on the international calendar which regularly attracts a large and strong entry.
These tournaments are also essential in the development pathway for our technical officials and tournament organisers, but ultimately the decision has been made to protects the health and safety of everyone involved in the tournaments.
Thankfully, we were able to showcase the continent’s talent at the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2020 in Ballarat, and we look forward to making plans for our international events in Australia in 2021”, says Badminton Australia CEO, Jaimie Parsons.
The unfortunate cancellation means that all of Oceania’s grade three tournaments have been cancelled in 2020, which resulted in the cancellation of the Oceania Tour 2020. The initiative aimed to encourage players from our Member Associations to compete in the region’s most competitive events and potentially earn funding for international training and competition opportunities.
“Alongside all the other developments across the world, we are obviously disappointed to suspend this year’s Oceania Tour”
“However we are hopeful that we will still see some of the planned tournaments in the region taking place during 2020 leading into a reprisal of the Oceania Tour in 2021”, says Badminton Oceania Secretary General, Julie Carrel.
The escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic globally has led all parties to confirm the cancellation of these tournaments. The health, safety and wellbeing of all athletes, their entourage, officials and the greater badminton community remains the top priority.
In response to the cancellation of numerous tournaments, the BWF froze the World Rankings and World Junior Rankings until further notice, with ranking lists backdated to 17 March 2020. BWF will provide more clarity on the unfreezing of rankings once it is deemed safe to resume tournaments.
The BWF is also reviewing the impacts of the rescheduling of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games upon the Olympic and Paralympic qualification system. This review process is expected to take several weeks upon which BWF will make a further announcement.
Our thoughts and wishes are with everyone affected by this global pandemic and we encourage people to stay home and stay safe.