The Badminton England has confirmed the All-England Championships scheduled for March 11-15 is set to go ahead despite the increasing Covid-19 coronavirus spread across the globe.
The world’s oldest tournament, which is also the first Super 1000 event on the badminton calendar this year, was in jeopardy of being postponed as the Covid-19 spread to Europe and saw many sporting events either postponed or called off.
“Badminton England is continuing to monitor the ongoing situation regarding the COVID-19, but based on up-to-date government advice and the publication of the government’s Coronavirus Action Plan, we will be going ahead with the YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships.
“We will also continue to implement a number of measures to minimise the potential risk of the virus on players, officials, volunteers and fans attending the event,” said Badminton England chief executive Adrian Christy in a statement.
The news should come as a huge relief to the badminton contingent chasing valuable Olympics qualification points before the qualifying period ends on April 30.
The Badminton World Federation had also confirmed they will not extend the qualifying period beyond April due to the already hectic badminton calendar, and so the All-England would play a big significance for shuttlers vying to qualify.
This includes the Malaysian contingent, some of whom are training in France after the German Open (March 3-8) was called off due to the virus.
Besides the German Open, the other European tournaments affected were the Polish Open and Portuguese International Championships.
Health screenings would be at an optimum at the All-England Championships, with every personnel expected to have their temperatures taken each time they enter the badminton hall.
Women’s singles shuttler Soniia Cheah had told Stadium Astro that every official and player had their body temperature screened each time they entered the venue of the Asia Team Championships in Manila last month.
Europe is the second most impacted region after Asia Pacific since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in Wuhan, China, late last year.
Nicolas Anil
Thu Mar 05 2020
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