Taiwan, who feature world number one Tai Tzu-ying, were among the teams to pull out. ©AFP/File Mohd RASFAN

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) – Badminton’s showpiece Thomas and Uber Cup was postponed Tuesday after a string of countries withdrew over coronavirus fears, officials said, in a major blow to the sport’s restart.

The men’s and women’s world team championships had been set to take place in Denmark next month, and would have been the first international tournament since the pandemic halted badminton in March.

But the Badminton World Federation said it had taken the “tough decision” to delay the event as the pull-outs meant they were not able to deliver a high enough level of competition.

No new dates were announced for the tournament, which has now been postponed three times, but the BWF said it wouldn’t take place before 2021.

“These are exceptional circumstances we find ourselves in and while a return to international badminton remains a priority for the BWF, the health and safety of the entire badminton community is of utmost importance,” a BWF statement said.

“It has been realised that we are not in a position to deliver the level of competition reasonably expected by fans and all stakeholders,” it added.

A further delay to the tournament, which had been scheduled to take place in Aarhus from October 3-11, had started to look inevitable in recent days after some of Asia’s top talent withdrew.

Indonesia, who are 13-time Thomas Cup champions, South Korea, Thailand, Australia and Taiwan had all decided to skip the event.

Leading Indian player Saina Nehwal, who was due to play in the championships, had also questioned whether pushing ahead was a good idea.

The delay is a big setback to efforts to resume international competition, as it was the biggest event left on the calendar this year after the Olympics were postponed.

Two other tournaments had been due to take place in Denmark in October.

The first of these, the Denmark Open, will proceed as originally planned, but the second — Denmark Masters — had been cancelled, the BWF said.

The BWF added that it was also looking into the “feasibility” of an additional three tournaments planned for an as-yet-unnamed location in Asia.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.