Singapore Open cancelled due to surge in COVID-19 cases

SINGAPORE: Tournament organisers Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Wednesday agreed to cancel the Singapore Open 2021 scheduled for June 1-6, 2021.

"All attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants. 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," the Badminton World Federation said in an official statement.

BWF also confirmed that the tournament will not be rescheduled.

The Singapore Open 2021 is a Super 500 event on the HSBC BWF World Tour and was the last tournament offering Race to Tokyo ranking points inside the Olympic qualifying window.

BWF will issue a further statement on Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifying at a later date.

Earlier, The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) and Badminton World Federation (BWF) jointly agreed to postpone the Malaysia Open 2021, scheduled for May 25-30.

As per a release on the BWF website, all attempts were made by the organisers and BWF to provide a safe tournament environment for all participants, but the recent surge in cases left no choice but to postpone the tournament.

The Malaysia Open 2021 is a Super 750 event on the BWF World Tour and was originally scheduled as an Olympic qualifying tournament. BWF can confirm the rescheduled tournament will no longer take place in the Olympic qualifying window. New tournament dates will be confirmed at a later date.