(Reuters) – The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced a new 2020 tournaments calendar on Friday with the World Tour set to return with the Taipei Open from Sept. 1-6.
Tournaments in New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India have been rescheduled, while the season resumes in August with two BWF Tour Super 100 events in Hyderabad (Aug. 11-16) and Lingshui (Aug. 25-30).
The season-ending World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China has been pushed back by a week and will now finish on Dec. 20 while the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Aarhus was postponed to Oct. 3-11 last month.
“It is a condensed calendar but we are confident this provides the framework to allow us to start again when it is safe and logistically possible,” BWF secretary general Thomas Lund said in a statement.
“At this point in time, it’s difficult to predict when international movement and entry restrictions will be lifted by individual countries and territories.
“But we will not resume competition unless it is absolutely clear that is safe to do so.”
The badminton season was suspended following the All England Open in March. The German Open, Swiss Open, European Championships and Australian Open — all scheduled between March and June — remain suspended.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
