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Malaysia Open, a Tokyo Olympics qualifying tournament, was postponed on Friday due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in the host country. The Super 750 event was originally scheduled to be held from May 25-30 in Kuala Lumpur.
With the situation in Malaysia looking dangerous, conducting the tournament would be risky. Hence the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) have jointly agreed to postpone the event.
"All attempts were made by the organizers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants, but the recent surge in cases left no choice but to postpone the tournament," the BWF said in a statement.
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Malaysia Open no longer to be played in the Tokyo Olympics qualifying window
While the new dates for the tournament are not yet known, it is unlikely that the Malaysia Open will be played during the Olympic qualification period since it ends on June 15.
"BWF can confirm the rescheduled tournament will no longer take place in the Olympic qualifying window. New tournament dates will be confirmed at a later date," the statement further said.
This sudden turn of events almost put an end to Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth's hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.
The shuttlers will have a final shot at earning Olympic quotas when they participate at the Singapore Open from June 1-6. However, it remains unlikely that Indian shuttlers will be able to travel to Singapore in the wake of imposed travel restrictions on the country.
Indian shuttlers who have virtually assured themselves of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics include PV Sindhu, Sai Praneeth, and the men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.
