Oceania Tour 2020 – cancelled

Following the cancellation and suspension of three events in Badminton Oceania’s playing calendar, the Oceania Tour 2020 has been cancelled.

In March, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) suspended all HSBC BWF World Tour and BWF-sanctioned tournaments from 16 March – 12 April 2020 which had an impact on two of Badminton Oceania’s tournaments: the YONEX North Harbour International 2020 and YONEX Waikato International 2020. These two tournaments have since been confirmed as cancelled for 2020.

The escalating COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in the suspension of the BARFOOT & THOMPSON New Zealand Open 2020 which now creates an imbalance in the tournaments included in the Oceania Tour, as none will be taking place in New Zealand this year.

Additionally, the future of the three remaining tournaments: CROWN GROUP Australian Open, Sydney International and Bendigo International remains unclear at this time.

The aim of the Oceania Tour 2020 is 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. With nearly half of the tournaments either cancelled or suspended and looming uncertainty around the latter three, the decision has been taken to cancel the Oceania Tour 2020 and to focus on returning again in 2021.

“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 tournaments which were originally involved in the Oceania Tour 2020 included: