Bangkok, Wednesday: Thailand’s badminton chief pledged that next month’s restart tournaments will be the “safest in the world” on Wednesday after heavyweights China withdrew because of coronavirus restrictions.
China’s pull-out blows a big hole in the draw for the three world tour events from January 12 in Bangkok, the first in Asia since Covid-19 shut down the sport in March.
Badminton Association of Thailand president Patama Leeswadtrakul said China’s anti-coronavirus rules prevented the team, which includes men’s Olympic champion Chen Long and women’s world number two Chen Yufei, from travelling.
“The reason is that the Chinese government doesn’t allow them to go out of the country -- not just for the sport of badminton but for all kinds of athletes,” Patama told AFP. The three back-to-back tournaments, in bio-secure “bubble” conditions and behind closed doors, culminate in the delayed 2020 World Tour Finals from January 27.AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment