BWF World Championships: Indonesia Badminton team, Kento Momota pull out due to Omicron scare

Concerned over the rapid spread of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, the Indonesian badminton team has decided to pull out of the BWF World Championships starting in Huelva, Spain on Sunday, December 5.

Indonesia's An Se-Young with PV Sindhu.(Source: Twitter)

The All-Indonesian Badminton Federation (PBSI) said on Wednesday that the decision of pulling out from the tournament was prompted by the spike in cases due to the spread of the Omicron variant in European nations.

"We don't want to take any risks. Athletes' safety and health are paramount. We have also discussed with the players and they agreed to withdraw from the World Championships," PBSI development and performance division head Rionny Mainaky said.

"The Indonesian badminton team has withdrawn from participating in the 2021 BWF World Championship which will take place in Huelva, Spain, on 12-19 December 2021," Badminton Indonesia wrote on its Twitter handle on Wednesday. "With this decision, the Indonesian team will immediately prepare for the tournament in 2022."

— BADMINTON INDONESIA (@INABadminton) December 6, 2021

"In addition, there is also an appeal from the government of the Republic of Indonesia, in the midst of a pandemic that has not subsided, to reduce travel activities abroad. Moreover, in a number of European countries there has also been a rapid spike in Covid-19 cases." he added.

The tournament will lose a lot of sheen with the withdrawal of the Indonesian team which boosts of top seeds Kevin Sanjaya-Marcus Fernaldi, second seeds and defending champions Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan and sixth seeds Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in men's doubles.

In men's singles, fifth-seeded Anthony Ginting and seventh-seeded Jonatan Christie and Olympic champions and sixth-seeded women's doubles pair of Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu will also be missing in action. Last year, Indonesia had withdrawn from the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Aarhus, Denmark due to the COVID-19 pandemic but ended up winning the Thomas Cup for the first time in 19 years after the event was postponed to October this year.

Two-time defending champion Kento Momota of Japan also withdrew from the BWF World Championships after failing to recover from a back injury.

"BWF can confirm the unfortunate news that world No.2 and men's singles defending champion Kento Momota has pulled out with injury," the game's world governing body said in a statement.

"Momota also withdrew from last week's HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021 with a back issue and has returned to Japan."