Badminton qualifiers fall victim to virus

KUALA LUMPUR: Badminton’s German Open will not go ahead next week and the Polish Open has been postponed, officials said as two more Olympic qualifying events fell victim to the coronavirus.

It hasn’t yet been decided whether the German Open, originally scheduled for March 3-8, will be postponed or cancelled entirely, the Badminton World Federation said late Wednesday.

New dates are being sought for the Polish Open, which was meant to take place from March 26-29, but it will not now fall in the qualifying period for the Tokyo Olympics.

Both events were in the same month as the All England Open, one of the biggest events in the badminton calendar, although that tournament is currently still set to go ahead. This week the Vietnam International Challenge, which also carried rankings points for the Olympics, was shifted from late March to early June.