India Open badminton tournament postponed due to surge in COVID-19 cases

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced the postponement of the India Open 2021 event on Monday. India Open 2021 is supposed to be held on May 11-16 in Delhi.

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The soaring Covid-19 cases in the country prompted the Indonesian Badminton Association (BAI) as the organizer of the BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament to announce the postponement.

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Previously, BAI planned to hold the India Open with a bubble system, but in the end they decided to follow the advice of the local health authorities to postpone the event.

"Every effort has been made, but the recent spike in COVID-19 cases and the dire situation in Delhi have forced us to postpone the tournament," said a BWF statement.

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BAI General Secretary Ajay Singhania said, considering the current challenges, BAI is left with no option but to announce the postponement of the tournament for the time being.

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The BWF World Tour Super 500 tournament was classified as one of the last few qualification tournaments for the Tokyo Olympics and had attracted top players including Kenta Momota, Victor Axelsen and several other Top-10 players along with representation from 33 countries.

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The 2021 edition was already scheduled to be held in a biosecure bubble with no spectators and media.

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