The Badminton World Federation (BWF) today announced several important changes to its 2021 tournament calendar. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, China will no longer host the Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 and HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021.
Here are some of the important changes:
- Vantaa, Finland is the new host for the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 (26 September – 3 October).
- There is a one-week gap after the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 before shifting to Denmark for two back-to-back tournaments.
- The TotalEnergies BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2020 which was postponed last year will be held on 9-17 October 2021, in Aarhus, Denmark.
- 3 tournaments, as part of the HSBC BWF World Tour, will be held in Europe: VICTOR Denmark Open 2021 (Odense, 19-24 October), YONEX French Open 2021 (Paris, 26-31 October), SaarLorLux Open 2021 (Saarbrücken, November 2-7).
- There is a one-week gap after the HSBC BWF World Tour tournaments in Europe before shifting to Asia.
- Bali, Indonesia will host three tournaments to conclude the HSBC BWF World Tour 2021 season: Indonesia Masters 2021 (16-21 November), Indonesia Open 2021 (23-28 November), HSBC BWF World Tour Finals (1-5 December ).
- TotalEnergies BWF World Championships is the last tournament on the calendar and will be held in Huelva, Spain (12-19 December).
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said, “The new calendar represents an assessment of what are the most feasible tournaments to take place in the coming months. Europe is seen as a more feasible region to conduct tournaments at this present time with higher rates of vaccine implementation and less travel restrictions.”
Lund also added, “We have been able to work with the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) to present a comprehensive plan for a three-week bubble-style setup in Bali similar to what we saw at the Asian Leg in Bangkok earlier this year. And we are still assessing the feasibility of staging a few other tournaments also in Asia in this period.”