South Korea\, Indonesia withdraw from Thomas and Uber Cup badminton due to coronavirus



South Korea, Indonesia withdraw from Thomas and Uber Cup badminton due to coronavirus

South Korea and Indonesia have withdrawn from next month's Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Denmark and they join Australia, Taiwan and Thailand in skipping the Oct. 3-11 tournament amid the COVID-19 pandemic.


PV Sindhu Thomas and Uber Cup

PV Sindhu has agreed to play in th Thomas and Uber Cup as more countries withdraw from the badminton tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic.

South Korea and Indonesia have withdrawn from next month's Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Denmark, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said in a statement on Saturday. The two countries join Australia, Taiwan and Thailand in skipping the Oct. 3-11 tournament amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) said it was concerned that players could contract COVID-19 during the tournament.

The PBSI also confirmed that its players would not participate in the Denmark Open and Denmark Masters scheduled for in October. Indonesia have won the men’s Thomas Cup a record 13 times and women’s Uber Cup thrice. Thailand announced their withdrawal earlier this week, citing injuries and other COVID-19 related issues. Replacements for the teams have yet to be announced.

The Thomas and Uber Cup, originally scheduled for May, had been postponed to August due to the pandemic before being moved to the new dates when the Danish government extended its ban on large gatherings.

Sindhu likely to play

Shuttler PV Sindhu would most likely be participating in the upcoming Thomas Uber Cup, Himanta Biswa Sarma, the President of Badminton Association of India (BAI) confirmed on Monday.

Earlier, Sindhu had decided to opt-out of the tournament due to personal reasons, but now on the request of Sarma, she has agreed to feature in the Thomas Uber Cup.

"I have requested @Pvsindhu1 to join the team as we have a favourable draw and have the best chance to take a shot at a medal at the #ThomasUberCup. She has agreed and will prepone her family function so that she can be part of the Indian Team and play for the country @BAI_Media," Sarma tweeted. The World Champion shuttler returned to training last month with the start of the national camp for eight Olympic-bound athletes at the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.

On Saturday, during an Instagram live session on the Bank of Baroda's official account, Sindhu revealed that her father inspired her to take up sports. On being asked about her inspiration she said: "Dad inspired me to play sports when I took up badminton he never questioned my choice.