The Yonex German Open in Mulheim (March 3-8) and the Polish Open (March 26-29) have been canceled amidst the growing concern of coronavirus (Covid-19) which has spread to several countries worldwide.
Both are Olympic qualifying tournaments. The Olympic qualification cut-off is set to end on April 26 with the Badminton Asia Championships.
The German Open was scheduled to be held at the Innogy Sporthalle in Mulheim and several Malaysian shuttlers who are currently in Paris were scheduled to compete in the USD170,000 Super 300 event.
In the men’s singles, Malaysia’s top shuttler Lee Zii Jia is seeded seventh. China’s Chen Long and Shi Yuqi are the top two seeds.
Other Malaysians down to play in the German Open are men’s doubles pairs Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani; Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean, Vivian Hoo-Yap Chen Wen (women’s doubles) and mixed doubles pairs Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing.
“After medical advice and a weighing process, we canceled the event for the planned period,” Mulheim Sports and Health Department’s head Marc Buchholz said on the “hard” decision.
“Due to the current situation, the Health Office has made the recommendation to cancel the event and postpone it to a later date. We followed the recommendation,” added Buchholz.
Around 250 international players and up to 7,000 visitors from all over the world are always expected at the German Open. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
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