The alarming increase in the COVID-19 cases in New Delhi has forced the postponement of the India Open badminton tournament due to be held here from May 11 to 16.
Earlier this month, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) confirmed the event, complete with the seedings. However, on Monday, it announced the decision of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) to postpone the tournament a few hours after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a six-day lockdown of the Capital.
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"Considering the current challenges, BAI is left with no option but to announce the postponement of the tournament for the time being," Badminton Association of India (BAI) general secretary Ajay Singhania said.
"Several rounds of discussions were held with BWF as well as the Delhi government and other stakeholders and accessing the safety of players and officials BAI needed to take this decision."
It has been learnt that top players, including Olympic champion Carolina Marin, former world champion Ratchanok Intanon and Denmark's duo of Anders Antonsen and Rasmus Gemke had withdrawn from the Olympic ranking event.
"We had an entry of 228 players and close to 300 peoples gathering including coaches, support staff and officials and the circumstances are such that the 2021 edition of Yonex-Sunrise India Open seems for now a very risky affair," Singhania said.
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