Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, China will no longer conduct the season-ending Badminton World Tour Championships in December, the sport’s regulatory body announced on Tuesday.
The BWF World Tour Finals were moved from China to Thailand as a result of Covid
The flagship $1.5 million tournament, which the Badminton World Federation had planned to hold in Guangzhou from December 14 to 18, will now take place in Bangkok, Thailand, the week before.
Since Covid first appeared in China in 2019, practically all international sporting events there have been canceled, with both the Beijing Winter Olympics in February of this year being a rare exception.
Following discussions with the Chinese Badminton Association (CBA), the BWF stated that it has decided to move the competition “because to the many problems brought about by the present pandemic crisis.” “.
The top eight players and pairs in each category will compete in the World Tour Finals, which will now be held at the Thai capital’s Nimibutr Arena from December 7 to 11. They will compete for a piece of what the BWF described “the highest prize pool ever seen in badminton.” “.
In 2018 and 2019, the Finals were held in Guangzhou, a city in the south.
The fifth season of the BWF World Tour of badminton, which consists of 20 tournaments and precedes the World Tour Finals competition, is known officially as the 2022 HSBC BWF World Tour due to sponsorship considerations.
The 20 events are broken up into five levels, with Level 1 being the aforementioned World Tour Finals, Level 2 being Super 1000 (two tournaments), Level 3 being Super 750 (four tournaments), Level 4 being Super 500 (six tournaments), and Level 5 being Super 300. (seven tournaments). There are various ranking points and prizes available for each of these competitions. The Super 1000 level offers the greatest number of points and reward money (including the World Tour Finals).
BWF World Tour ranking points are also available in another category of competition, the BWF Tour Super 100 (level 6). Despite not being a part of the BWF World Tour, this level serves as a vital stepping stone for players entering the competitions on the BWF World Tour. The total number of events on the tour is 25 when the five Level 6 grade BWF Tour Super 100 tournaments are added.