KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced that in partnership with the Badminton Association of Thailand and the Government of Thailand, the Asian leg of the adjusted HSBC BWF World Tour 2020, will be hosted with three tournaments in Bangkok in January 2021.
The staging of the Asian leg, which were scheduled to be held across the Philippines, Indonesia and China in November, was no longer an option to “guarantee the highest standard of logistics and participants”, and therefore the January option was confirmed.
The badminton season, which was suspended due to the novel coronavirus pandemic following the All England Open in March, will resume with the Denmark Open.
The three Asian leg tournaments in Bangkok in January, now sit alongside the DANISA Denmark Open 2020 (13 – 18 October) in forming the conclusion to the HSBC World Tour 2020 calendar.
Asia Open I (Super 1000) – 12 – 17 January 2021
Asia Open II (Super 1000) – 19 – 24 January 2021
HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020 – 27 – 31 January 2021
The specific tournament COVID-19 health and safety protocols are being prepared from the BWF protocols and guidelines for hosts BWF released in August.
“It was agreed by the BWF Council that staging the Asian leg in November as originally planned was no longer a viable option in being able to guarantee the highest standard of tournament including securing all logistical arrangements for players and participants,” the BWF said in a statement.
“The January dates provide BWF with the best possible opportunity to resume and complete the HSBC BWF World Tour for 2020 as part of our return to international badminton.”
