Kuala Lumpur: Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Monday announced the cancelation of the 2021 Indonesia Masters and Russian Open – both were Super 100 tournament on the BWF World Tour. The Indonesia Masters was due to take place from October 5-10 while the Russian Open was slated for July 20-25.
“The ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and complications left local organisers no choice but to cancel the tournaments.
The respective decisions of the National Badminton Federation of Russia and Badminton Indonesia were made in consultation and agreement with the BWF,” said BWF in the announcement.
Meanwhile, the head of Public Relations of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Broto Happy, explained the cancellation of the Indonesia Masters.
“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, PBSI’s priority at this time is to protect all players so that they can stay healthy from Covid-19,” said Happy.
“As we all know, the pandemic has caused many uncertainties to the schedule of international and national tournaments. In 2020 there were many tournaments postponed including the Tokyo Olympics and the Thomas & Uber Cup. Meanwhile, we are going to have the Sudirman Cup and World Championship this year as well. We are going to have a very packed schedule in 2021,” explained Happy.
Before this announcement, on March 12, 2021, BWF has also confirmed the cancellation of this year’s U.S. Open and Canada Open due to COVID-19 restrictions.
