AS for now, the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) will still take place in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, on Apr 21-26.
According to a source, Badminton Asia (BA) have not pushed the panic button yet but are closely monitoring the situation in China.
“April is still a few months away. We are monitoring the outbreak closely but for now, no decision has been made,” said the source.
The BAC is one of the last tournaments for players to collect ranking points as it falls within the one-year Olympic qualifying period.
Several other sports bodies have either cancelled or relocated their competitions from China due to the virus, that has claimed more than 100 lives so far.
On Tuesday, the BA of Malaysia (BAM) confirmed that they will not be sending their shuttlers to Lingshui for the China Masters on Feb 25-March 1.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF), in a statement, also assured that they are closely monitoring the virus outbreak and are in contact with Badminton Asia (BA) and the China BA (CBA).
“BWF will continue to monitor implications related to the coronavirus outbreak in China and surrounding areas with all necessary health, safety and travel precautions currently being considered.
“Currently, no decision has yet been made on any change in status to the Lingshui China Masters. But the BWF are working with local organisers and the CBA to create greater clarity around any risks,” read the statement.
Apart from the China Masters, China will also be hosting several other BWF events, including the World Tour Finals in December.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian men’s team have been drawn in Group C with Taiwan and Singapore for the Asia Team Championships in Manila on Feb 11-16.
The women's team are in Group W with top seeds Japan and Hong Kong.