Former World No 1 Lee Chong Wei hopes Malaysia's Olympic-bound shuttlers will start preparing now for the Tokyo Games.
With just over 70 days to go and given the current Covid-19 situation, any small mishap could cost dearly.
"With the pandemic still a major concern, nobody can say what will happen.
"Players need to disassociate themselves from everything that's happening and just focus on their training," said the 39-year-old in response to the postponement of the Malaysia Open due to Covid-19.
Chong Wei, a three-time Olympic
silver medallist, noted that nobody should be blamed for the current
climate in sports.
"It is unfortunate for the Malaysia Open to be postponed, but what can you do when there are more than 4,000 new cases in a day?
"The Badminton World Federation (BWF) are in a sticky situation as well.
"I don't think the world body are being unfair, but it must be really hard to make top-level decisions in the pandemic era.
"I do not think the BWF have any choice but to postpone these qualifying tournaments, so for those who have already qualified, do not get distracted," he added.
Those who have virtually qualified for the Olympics are Lee Zii Jia (men's singles), Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (doubles), Soniia Cheah (women's singles), Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean (doubles) and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (mixed doubles).
Prior to the Malaysia Open announcement, the BWF had already called off the German and India Opens.
The Asia Championships, which offers Olympic qualifying points, was also called off because of the pandemic.
The Singapore Open on June 1-6 is the last tournament to offer Olympic qualifying points.