(Reuters) – The Singapore Open, scheduled for June 1-6, has been cancelled due to travel complications amid the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on Wednesday.
The Super 500 event on the HSBC BWF World Tour was the last tournament where Olympic hopefuls could collect points towards the Race to Tokyo rankings – a programme that decides who qualifies for the Summer Games which begin on July 23.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said the tournament would not be rescheduled.
“All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants,” the BWF said in a statement.
“However, rising COVID-19 cases globally led to complex challenges in managing inbound travel. Thus, in the interests of all players, tournament personnel and the local community’s health and safety, the event has been cancelled.”
It marks the second straight year the tournament has been called off due to the pandemic.
The Race to Tokyo period will end on June 15 and the BWF said it would provide further details on Olympic qualification at a later date.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
