COVID-19: All domestic badminton tournaments in April and May postponed

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All upcoming domestic badminton tournaments in the country have been postponed amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) informed on Monday.

As a result, the upcoming tournament in Bengaluru, scheduled to be played from April 18 to 25 has been postponed. Also, junior and sub-junior competitions in Hyderabad, which were slated to be held in May, have been postponed.

"With the exponential rise in the number of COVID+ cases across the country, BAI President Himanta Biswa has decided to postpone all the upcoming domestic tournaments starting with Banglore (April18-25) followed by junior and sub-junior in Hyderabad in May," BAI Media tweeted.

With the exponential rise in the number of COVID+ cases across the country,BAI President @himantabiswa has decided to postpone all the upcoming domestic tournaments starting with B'lor(April18-25) followed by junior & sub-junior in H'yd in May.#badminton — BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2021

India has been undergoing a second COVID-19 wave in the last few days. On Sunday, over one lakh new infections were reported, the highest 24-hour spike in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.

Earlier in the day, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) announced that the Russian Open 2021 and Indonesia Masters 2021 Super 100 have been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions and complications

"The Badminton World Federation (BWF) can confirm two BWF Tour Super 100 tournaments -- the Russian Open 2021 and Indonesia Masters 2021 Super 100 - have been cancelled," BWF said in a statement.

"The ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and complications left local organisers no choice but to cancel the tournaments. The respective decisions of the national badminton federations of Russia and Badminton Indonesia were made in consultation and agreement with the BWF," it added.

BWF on Saturday had informed that it would stage its 82nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) virtually in May. A proposal from Badminton Indonesia and Badminton Maldives, seconded by Badminton Asia, to amend the laws of badminton relating to the scoring system will be discussed in the BWF AGM on May 22.

The proposal is to change the scoring system from best of three games of 21 points to best of five games of 11 points. According to BWF, a number of items are on the agenda including the scheduled Council Elections -- uniquely falling in an Olympic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

(With ANI inputs)