THE Thomas and Uber Cup Finals were dealt their biggest blow yesterday when Asian powerhouses South Korea confirmed their withdrawal.
There were already rumours in the past few days that the Koreans were considering pulling out from the two tournaments, scheduled for Oct 3-11 in Aarhus, Denmark.
According to the Korean media, the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) have confirmed that their players will not travel to Denmark due to Covid-19 concerns.
The Sports Seoul portal quoted a BKA official who said the decision has been made although it will only be formalised during the association's council meeting on Sept 18. A tweet from Badminton Denmark "confirmed" the Korean decision.
In a response to a query from user @oscar_jodi1 yesterday, Badminton Denmark responded by saying "Yes, sadly Korea made their withdrawal yesterday."
South Korea's pullout is a huge setback to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) who are banking on the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals to restart their competitions.
Earlier, five countries: Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore have already announced their withdrawals.
Following the Koreans' withdrawal, all eyes will now be on another Asian powerhouse - Indonesia. The 13-time Thomas Cup winners and three-time Uber Cup champions were also rumoured to be considering pulling out.
A lot of it came down to the fact that Denmark has strict entry restrictions on Indonesia who is one of the worst-hit Covid-19 countries in Southeast Asia with an approximate 210,000 cases.
Indonesian portal DetikSport had earlier reported that the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) remained keen on making the trip to Denmark.
"We appreciate the decisions of the other countries especially when it concerns the Covid-19 situation," PBSI secretary-general Achmad Budiharto was quoted as saying.
"We also have our concerns related to the pandemic and I know that many countries, including Denmark have their restrictions towards Indonesians."
Malaysia, on the other hand, are still set to compete and not considering pulling out from the Thomas Cup Finals.