Badminton

BWF announce schedule for India Open

 

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced the schedule for India Open on Monday. The tournament will be played between May 11 and 16, which means the Indian players will have the advantage of playing the last Tokyo Olympics Qualification event at home.

The India Open was actually scheduled to be played in New Delhi last year between March 24 and 29. However, the BWF had to stop the circuit from March 16 after the All England Championships and the rankings were freezed.

Now the Olynpic Qualification cycle will be starting with the Swiss Open from March 2-7, followed by German Open between March 9 and 14. Overall, there will be 17 tournaments carrying points towards the Olympics qualification.

“It is good for us that the India Open will be the last qualifying event. Considering our present situation, the players will get little more time to be ready. Most of them have not played any tournament since the lockdown and it will start only with the Thailand Open in January,” said former international and selector Vimal Kumar.

While PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are well placed to make it to Tokyo, the likes of Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and the pair of Ashwini Ponappa and N Sikki Reddy still have a lot of catching up to do.

While Srikanth played in the Denmark Open in October, the other top shuttlers will start in the Thailand Open in January.

“Qualification will be determined from the Race to Tokyo Rankings published on May 18 2021. This will also be used for seedings the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021,” BWF said in a statement

“The focus has been to establish cluster tournaments where possible similar to what is planned for the Asian Leg in January in Thailand and we expect to stage a number of tournaments this way to ensure a more feasible tournament programme in 2021,” said BWF secretary general Thomas Lund.

“The Covid-19 situation continues to provide a challenging environment in which to run international tournaments, and although the hope is that the COVID-19 vaccine may in time create a world with less restrictions, BWF expects that the pandemic will still influence tournament hosting throughout the whole of 2021,” he said.

About the Author


Written by DafaNews

DafaNews brings you the most highlighted news in the world of Sports. It serves you up-to-date matches, scores, live streams, fantasy games and quizzes. Our news covers India's prestigious leagues and events – Premier League, Pro Kabbadi League, Cricket World Cup and many more. Follow DafaNews on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,Telegram and Youtube for more updates.

Related Post
Share
Published by
DafaNews

Recent Posts

“Never expected a very easy run” – Gautam Gambhir reflects on his tenure as coach after IND vs NZ 2024 Test series defeat

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has admitted that he never expected a very easy run… Read More

October 31, 2024

Probably has a lot to do with playing on flat wickets in T20 – Gautam Gambhir on decline of good defensive technique in Test cricket

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir feels T20 cricket has led to the downfall of a… Read More

October 31, 2024

India needs Mumbai Test win before Australia tour – Gautam Gambhir

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir feels the Rohit Sharma-led team desperately needs to win the… Read More

October 31, 2024

I cannot say just the batters have let us down – Gautam Gambhir feels everyone should take responsibility for series loss against New Zealand

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to blame the batters after the team’s 2-0 series… Read More

October 31, 2024

It was insane – Bronny James after scoring his first NBA bucket

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James was on cloud nine after he managed to score… Read More

October 31, 2024

I’m happy with my team’s performance: Mohun Bagan SG head coach Jose Molina after win against Hyderabad FC

Mohun Bagan Super Giant head coach Jose Molina was delighted with the team’s performance after… Read More

October 31, 2024