BWF cancels US Open and Canada Open due to Covid-19 restrictions 

Both the US Open and Canada Open have been canceled due to coronavirus restrictions around the globe, announced the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Friday.

It is yet another setback for the sport of badminton, which lost a major chunk of its regular season last year because of the pandemic.

"The ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and complications left local organizers with no choice but to cancel the tournaments. The respective decisions of USA Badminton and Badminton Canada were made in consultation and agreement with the BWF," said BWF, as quoted by PTI.

The US Open was canceled last year over concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. A Super 300 tournament, this year's US Open was originally scheduled to be held between July 6 and 11. The Canada Open, a Super 100 tournament, was slated to take place from June 29 to July 4.

The cancelations come in the wake of the Asia Championships getting called off by Badminton Asia last month.

"The continental championship was to count towards the Race to Tokyo Rankings, but as it is not possible to reschedule the tournament within the Olympic Qualification period, the points will no longer be included," added BWF.

The ranking points from tournaments played during the previous qualification period will be maintained as usual, according to the world body.

BWF has extended the Olympic qualification window till June 15

Last month, the Olympic qualification period for the forthcoming 2021 Tokyo Olympics was extended to June 15. The qualification dates were revised after a series of World Tour events were postponed and canceled due to the pandemic.

The @iocmedia has approved the Revised @Tokyo2020 @Olympics Qualification System. The Singapore Open 2021 will be the final qualifying event and the Race to Tokyo rankings list of 15 June 2021 will be used for qualification #Tokyo2020 #Olympicshttps://t.co/moUlCwNx0b

— BWF (@bwfmedia) March 1, 2021

The Tokyo Olympics qualification period restarted with the resumption of the tour at the Swiss Open held from March 2-7.

A maximum of two entries from each nation across all events will be allowed. The top 16 singles players and the top 8 doubles pairs will directly qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, starting July 23.