The Thomas and Uber Cup Finals have been pushed back to August instead of May but Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark will remain as the hosts.
The new dates for the men’s and women’s team events are Aug 15-23. The tournament’s original dates were May 16-24. Bangkok played host to the last edition in 2018.
Badminton World Federation secretary-general Thomas Lund said: “All relevant health, safety, and logistical risk have been considered by BWF, Badminton Denmark, and the Aarhus government in reaching this decision.
“The health and safety and wellbeing of all athletes, their entourage, officials and the greater badminton community is the top priority.”
The draw for the men’s and women’s team championships was scheduled to be held in Aarhus on Wednesday.
Denmark is currently in lockdown as the deadly virus continues to play havoc throughout the world forcing many of the major sporting events either called off or postponed to a later date.
The BWF has also either canceled or suspended several BWF tournaments that offered Olympic points to the Tokyo Olympic points. Among those suspended was the India Open, Malaysia Open, Singapore Open, and the Badminton Asia Championships.
Due to Covid-19 international travel and domestic movements restrictions have been imposed by many countries.
Malaysia has qualified for both the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals on merit after the men finished runners-up to Indonesia in this year’s Badminton Asia Manila Team Championships in Manila while the women’s reached the semifinals.
The Asian Championsips also served as the Asian qualifier for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals with all the semi-finalists making the grade.
Malaysia seeded seventh in the Thomas Cup while the women are seeded ninth in the Uber Cup. RIZAL ABDULLAH
