Badminton Asia Championships 2020 moved to Manila, Philippines due to coronavirus

What's next?

The Badminton Asia Championships 2020 that was earlier scheduled to take place in Wuhan, China, will now be conducted in Manila, Philippines. The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has confirmed that the Asian event will take place between April 21-26 in the city of Manila.

The background

There have been a plethora of events that have been shifted/cancelled in China due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Badminton Asia Championships has now joined the long list with a change in venue. The coronavirus outbreak has forced the postponement or cancellation of a lot of badminton tournaments, disrupting the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

The Badminton Asia Championships will take place within the Tokyo Olympics 2020 qualification window. The change in venue comes as a relief for many shuttlers who are yet to qualify for the quadrennial extravaganza.

The BWF had also stated last week that it is not going to extend the qualification period for the Tokyo Olympics. No more ranking events will be added as it is bound to affect different players either positively or negatively.

The heart of the matter

In an official statement, the organizers of the Badminton Asia Championships declared:

"Badminton Asia together with the Philippine Badminton Association has been working closely to ensure visa approval for players and officials’ entry into Manila for all participants in this important and prestigious championship. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the president of the Philippine Badminton Association and relevant staff, together with the Government of Philippines for assisting on this matter."

The qualification for Tokyo Olympics' badminton events will be based on the Race to Tokyo BWF Rankings. These rankings are on the basis of the performances of the shuttlers during the Olympic qualification period (29th April 2019 to 26th April 2020).

What's next?

Currently, Kidambi Srikanth is ranked 21st in men's singles while Saina Nehwal is 22nd in women's singles according to these rankings. Only the Top 16 from each category will make it to Tokyo Olympics 2020. Also, a maximum of two players each in men's and women's singles can represent their countries at the blockbuster quadrangular event.

PV Sindhu is the highest ranked Indian in women's singles

PV Sindhu (Rank 7 in Race to Tokyo) and Sai Praneeth (Rank 11 in Race to Tokyo) are the frontrunning Indians as far as qualification goes.

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