THE Covid-19 pandemic may be raging on but this has not diminished BAM’s hope of hosting the Malaysia Open this year.
BAM secretary general, Kenny Goh said they plan to organise their flag ship tournament if things go back to normal.
“Of course, we would like to host the Malaysia Open this year, but everything is so uncertain right now,” he said.
“BWF (Badminton World Federation) have asked for some time for them to plan out everything, so we will wait to hear from them.”
The Malaysian Open, a BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament which offers Olympic qualifying points, was initially scheduled for March 31-Apr 5, but had to be put on hold following the coronavirus outbreak.
It is still unclear as to when BWF would resume its tournament calendar.
“Everything is unprecedented, so it's difficult to make any plans,” said Kenny.
On whether BAM suffered any losses in postponing the Malaysia Open, Kenny said: “We had already started preparing for the tournament. Tickets were already sold.
“Surely, we lost a little and that is also why we asked for a postponement and not cancellation.
“But now, we have to make tickets refund.”
On a separate note, Kenny said BAM are in discussion with the National Sports Council (NSC) on the possibility of having all national players (juniors and seniors) return to the Academy Badminton Malaysia if the Movement Control Order is extended.
“Any decision on the players will only be made with NSC approval.
“We have to comply with the government's directive. We cannot make decisions on our own.”