THE Badminton World Federation (BWF) will not make adjustments to the Tokyo Olympic qualifying process despite the cancellation and postponement of several tournaments due to Covid-19.
For the record, the German Open (March 3-8) and China Masters (Mar 25-Apr 1), both World Tour events, with the Vietnam International Challenge and the Polish Open (lower-tier events) have been either been postponed or cancelled.
The decision will affect shuttlers’ plans in earning Olympic ranking points ahead of the qualifying deadline in late April.
“It is unfortunate that several tournaments, which offer Road to Tokyo ranking points, have been postponed or cancelled.
“However, any change to the existing Olympic qualification rules will affect players both positively or negatively, and with the present level of postponement and cancellation, BWF do not believe that making changes will be appropriate,” said BWF in a statement on Friday.
However, BA of Malaysia (BAM) secretary-general Datuk Kenny Goh hopes the BWF will play a pro-active role and make early decisions whether to cancel or postpone a tournament.
“Of course, it is nobody’s fault that tournaments are being cancelled or postponed. However, the BWF need to inform member associations in advance instead of waiting until the last moment,” said Kenny.
“By doing so, we can make contingency plans as we did for our national pairs who are training in Paris now.
“As for the refund in terms of ticketing and accommodation, BWF can work with the organisations and help out in compensation. We are their member nations and they should try to help out, not entirely push the problems to us.”
BWF confirmed that other events will run as scheduled.