The Tokyo Olympics badminton qualification period was on Friday extended by nearly two months to June 15 after the postponement of three important tournaments due to COVID-19 related restrictions. (More Sports News)
The qualification period was earlier to end on April 25.
"The Olympic Qualifying period for the Race to Tokyo will now close on 15 June 2021, with the last tournament counting for qualification being the Singapore Open 2021," the BWF said in a statement.
"BWF is working with the IOC to update the Tokyo 2020 qualification system whereby the final updated regulation will be shared once ready following formal approval by IOC," it added.
The world body said preparations for the Olympic qualifying tournaments will continue as international badminton is set to resume with the YONEX Swiss Open 2021 (March 2-7) and YONEX All England Open 2021 (March 17-21).
The development came after the BWF decided to postpone two tournaments in Malaysia and Singapore Open from their earlier scheduled dates.
"The CELCOM AXIATA Malaysia Open 2021 (Super 750) will now occur 25-30 May.
The PERODUA Malaysia Masters 2021 (Super 500) has been postponed until further notice," the world body said.
"The Singapore Open 2021 (Super 500) has been moved to the new dates of 1-6 June."
Badminton Association of Malaysia and Singapore Badminton Association made the respective decisions in consultation and collaboration with the BWF.
"Both cited ongoing COVID-19 complications and wished for the tournaments to be delayed," the BWF said.
Due to the new dates given to CELCOM AXIATA Malaysia Open and Singapore Open, the BWF said the Indonesia Masters 2021 and Indonesia Open 2021 have also been postponed.
Replacement dates of these tournaments will be announced in due course.
