Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 26, 2020: The Badminton World Federation can confirm the decision to postpone the Ciputra Hanoi – Yonex Sunrise Vietnam International Challenge 2020 from March 24-29 until June 2-7 due to continued concerns over the Covid-19 outbreak.
The decision was made on the advice of the Vietnam Sports Administration linked to strict health protection restrictions in place in Vietnam.
BWF accepts that all relevant health, safety and logistical risks were considered by the Vietnam Badminton Federation (VBF), Vietnam Sports Administration and Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) in making the decision and that the welfare of players, their entourage, fans and officials at the tournament was the main priority.
The tournament, had it been held in March, was due to be a qualifying event for Tokyo 2020 but the new dates in June mean it will now be outside the qualification window.
The BWF is continuing to monitor all official updates on Covid-19 and is mindful that HSBC BWF World Tour and other BWF-sanctioned tournaments may be affected but there are no concrete plans or decisions at this point to change the status of any other events.
BWF will continue to update the entire badminton community on any further announcements related to the situation.