Hyderabad: The long wait will finally get over as the world badminton stars return in full force, barring the Chinese players, in Thailand for three back-to-back tournaments from January 2. The three events include two BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournaments with the third being the BWF World Tour Finals.
It will start off with the Yonex Thailand Open that will be held between Jan 12-17, followed by the Toyota Thailand Open on Jan 19-24 while the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020 will take place on Jan 27-31. The 2020 season was suspended in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic but competition resumed earlier this month with the staging of the Denmark Open. The New Year therefore will begin with a hope.
Chief national coach Pullela Gopichand said the disruption had lot of emotions. “A year’s loss is a big loss for mankind. But in the sporting fraternity it is even a bigger loss. The sports careers have been shortened or ended as we had the worst phase of sporting activity.
“Of course it was an important year of the Olympics. We lost some of that and also the fact is we did not have any tournaments almost the entire year except for the first three months. The coaches and supporting staff suffered because most of the academies and camps were closed. It was a big setback.’’
Gopichand said it was unprecedented and there will be big challenges ahead in the New Year. “The first three tournaments in Thailand will give us the indication where we stand and where the world stands, who has come out of the break stronger. We have to prepare and get ready for the challenges. And how are our preparations will be in future.’’
On bio-bubble tournaments in future, Gopichand said it has become a norm now. “I don’t think bio-bubble is an issue now. The players and the organisers are ready for this new set up. Bio-bubble has been part of life now. So I don’t think bio-bubble or lack of spectators will be a big issue.’’
The chief coach suggested for invitational tournaments there could be some badminton activities in the country. “The government has given a few SOPs and we have to make a few changes. It will be a challenge to host the tournaments in India. Initially, we should have invitational tournaments with limited entries and not necessarily bio-bubble but with restrictive movements during a tournament.’’
Gopichand did admit the foreign coaches were left idle because of the pandemic. “However, in the last three months there has been some sort of practice sessions, that too with a limited number of players. I really want the entire structure in place.’’
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