The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced a revamped tournament calendar for the remainder of 2020 following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A lot of planning and consultation has taken place with Member Association hosts to be able to provide the framework for badminton’s potential return. This includes the rescheduling of top-tier events that had previously been postponed or suspended.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said: “It has been a difficult task to plan for badminton’s return. It is a condensed calendar but we are confident this provides the framework to allow us to start again when it is safe and logistically possible.
“At this point in time, it is difficult to predict when international movement and entry restrictions will be lifted by individual countries and territories, but we will not resume competition unless it is absolutely clear that is safe to do so.
“The health, safety and wellbeing of all athletes, their entourage, officials and the greater badminton community remains our No.1 priority.
“We have also tried to ensure the continued livelihoods of our badminton players, including supporting all our Member Associations, by making considered preparations for badminton’s return at the soonest possible chance at all levels across the world.”
The BWF is still working on the exact model for the unfreezing of the world rankings in a staggered way to avoid any extreme drop off of points that would affect the ranking structure.
There are also ongoing considerations around the mandatory player regulations and how this is impacted by the revamped tournament schedule.
Other aspects of the BWF regulations are also being looked at including necessary changes to Olympic and Paralympic qualifying and we will make further announcements once all circumstances have been carefully considered.BWF
Notable Changes
- The HSBC BWF World Tour is scheduled for a return with the YONEX Taipei Open 2020 (Super 300) from 1-6 September.
- The BARFOOT & THOMPSON New Zealand Open 2020 (Super 300);
- BLIBLI Indonesia Open 2020 (Super 1000),
- CELCOM AXIATA Malaysia Open 2020 (Super 750); TOYOTA Thailand Open 2020 (Super 500); and YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2020 (Super 500) have all found new homes on the calendar.
- The season-ending HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China has been pushed back a week and will now conclude on 20 December 2020.
- As previously announced, the TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2020 in Aarhus, Denmark will take place on the rescheduled dates of 3-11 October 2020.
Four tournaments remain suspended.
Suspended Tournaments
- YONEX German Open 2020 (3-8 March)
- YONEX Swiss Open 2020 (17-22 March)
- 2020 European Championships (21-26 April)
- CROWN GROUP Australian Open 2020 (2-7 June)
Suitable replacement dates are still being finalised for the suspended tournaments. A number of tournaments have been cancelled for the year.
Cancelled Tournaments
- Orleans Masters 2020 (24-29 March)
- Singapore Open (7-12 April)
- Badminton Asia Championships 2020 (21-26 April)
- XXIV Pan Am Individual Championships 2020 (23-26 April)
- YONEX US Open 2020 (23-28 June)
- YONEX Canada Open 2020 (30 June-5 July)
- Russian Open (7-12 July)
- YONEX Akita Masters 2020 (18-23 August)
- Vietnam Open 2020 (25-30 August)
- Indonesia Masters 2020 Super 100 (29 September-4 October)
BWF Tournament Calendar 2020 (Grade 1 & Grade 2)
Tournament / Dates / City / Level
- Hyderabad Open 2020 11-16 Aug Hyderabad BWF Tour Super 100
- Lingshui China Masters 2020 * 25-30 Aug Lingshui BWF Tour Super 100
- YONEX Taipei Open 2020 01-06 Sep Taipei HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
- Korea Open 2020 08-13 Sep Seoul HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
- VICTOR China Open 2020 15-20 Sep Changzhou HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000
- DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2020 22-27 Sep Tokyo HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
- TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2020 * 03-11 Oct Aarhus Major Championships
- YONEX Dutch Open 2020 06-11 Oct Almere BWF Tour Super 100
- DANISA Denmark Open 2020 13-18 Oct Odense HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
- YONEX French Open 2020 20-25 Oct Paris HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
- BARFOOT & THOMPSON New Zealand Open 2020 * 20-25 Oct Auckland HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
- Macau Open 2020 27-01 Nov Macau HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
- SaarLorLux Open 2020 27-01 Nov Saarbrücken BWF Tour Super 100
- Fuzhou China Open 2020 03-08 Nov Fuzhou HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
- YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open 2020 10-15 Nov Hong Kong HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
- BLIBLI Indonesia Open 2020 * 17-22 Nov Jakarta HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000
- Syed Modi India International 2020 17-22 Nov Lucknow HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
- CELCOM AXIATA Malaysia Open 2020 * 24-29 Nov Kuala Lumpur HSBC BWF World Tour Super 750
- GWANGJU Korea Masters 2020 24-29 Nov Gwangju HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300
- TOYOTA Thailand Open 2020 * 01-06 Dec Bangkok HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
- YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2020 * 08-13 Dec New Delhi HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500
- HSBC BWF World Tour Finals * 16-20 Dec Guangzhou Major Championships
* Rescheduled from original dates
