PBSI has announced that all INA players also will skip DEN Open & DEN Masters as well. We'll see the updates on M/Q version 2. *Taken from New Strait Times yesterday : https://www.nst.com.my/sports/badminton/2020/09/623924/koreans-take-shine-thomas-cup-finals ========================================= A lot of it came down to the fact that Denmark has strict entry restrictions on Indonesia who is one of the worst-hit Covid-19 countries in Southeast Asia with an approximate 210,000 cases. Indonesian portal DetikSport had earlier reported that the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) remained keen on making the trip to Denmark. "We appreciate the decisions of the other countries especially when it concerns the Covid-19 situation," PBSI secretary-general Achmad Budiharto was quoted as saying. "We also have our concerns related to the pandemic and I know that many countries, including Denmark have their restrictions towards Indonesians." ======================================
We'll know BWF final decision about TUC 2020 fate today according to this news article : https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/ba...-discuss-fate-of-thomas-uber-cup-finals-today
The gist of the matter - " Will there be a fresh draw with fewer countries thus making it a sub-standard Finals or will it be called off?" Even Malaysia is adopting a “wait-and-see” approach despite the fact that ,and I quote the article: 1) Otherwise, Malaysia’s Uber Cup squad could have earned a direct qualification to the quarter-finals without playing a single match as all their three rivals in Group B – South Korea, Indonesia and Australia had withdrawn. 2) As for the Thomas Cup, Malaysia will only have England and Holland as their company following the withdrawal of arch-rivals and 13-time champions Indonesia in the Group A.
Even though I would prefer to see more team participate but I said earlier it is not right to postpone because : 1. Take a look at other events like tennis US open, NBA. They have announced it and some top players are not taking part. It is okay and the organiser have already spent many resources to try to hold it so postponing just because some players are not taking part is not really fair to the organiser. 2. It is also not fair for the others who are prepare to take part.
Just a thought. What if all group 1 teams withdraw and only group 2 and group 3 teams are playing ? Will group 2 and group 3 teams vie for TUC ? .
Well the tournament is virtually off Told before might as well make it a 4 country SF or 8 country QF when Taipei & Thai withdraws . But when INA, its most often winner withdraws, whats the point. It made all the difference.
Latest update about TUC 2020... That’s the virtual reality https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/badminton/2020/09/14/thats-the-virtual-reality PETALING JAYA: The Thomas-Uber Cup Finals are virtually off. The Finals, scheduled to be held in Aarhus, Denmark from Oct 3-11, is set to be held after next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. It’s confirmed by sources that this was the consensus by the majority during the Badminton World Federation (BWF) virtual emergency council meeting yesterday following a spate of withdrawals due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic. The world body will make an official announcement soon after another meeting to firm up things. The withdrawal of Indonesia, who are the 13-time Thomas Cup winners and three times Uber Cup champions, had made all the difference. Their absence had diluted the quality of the competitions and it’s learnt that one of the requirements of the sponsors is to have the top three teams in the fray. Indonesia are the top seeded team in the Thomas Cup. The other teams, who have also pulled out are South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia. Top teams China and Japan, the defending Thomas Cup and Uber Cup champions, had also been mulling about pulling out. The world body had tried to save the tournament by including Finland and Sweden but it was still not good enough as they are not seen as top ranked teams. It’ll be the third time that the Finals will be postponed this year. It was first slotted for May 16-24 and then it was moved to Aug 15-23 before the October date. The deferment is expected to get mixed reactions as some of the players had been looking forward to playing competitive badminton but for some, it’ll be a welcoming news as they had raised their concerns over their safety and travel to Aarhus. ____________ Can't imagine fully-packed 2021 with four major events in it : Olympic Games, World Championships, Sudirman Cup and Thomas-Uber Cup.
like i stated in a different thread: that won't happen either within a 'normal' calendar year schedule. if bwf wants to hold those 4 tournaments in 2021 many other wt 300 or higher tourneys will have to give way. if not brace yourself for numerous non-entries and/or withdrawals of top players at various points throughout the year. also, when or if other wt 300's or higher levels do give way to the tuc/sudirman cup/wc/og it means there will be a lot less prize money up for grabs. not ideal for the athletes. if it was up to me i would outright cancel the rest of the year for all tournaments due to the uncertainty in the ability to have a quality tournament. focus 100% on bubble plans for 2021 and 2022 because barring a viable vaccine it will be more of the same. hope-cancel-hope-cancel. who knows what bwf will decide. i think they are trying too hard to make things happen without a well thought out plan. you simply cannot satisfy every int'l teams situation. this has exposed how the current system they created and insist on using is flawed: running an individual sport as if it was a team sport which give the int'l associations control over the individual athletes. another lacking aspect of badminton is a league structure made up of the int'l federations. the 'league' would decide whether to have tournaments or not. instead we have bwf saying we want to play, a member assn. saying they're willing to host, then both of them hoping teams/athletes will come. look at tennis and golf. individual sports with a set of rules & governing body that exists for and accommodates the individual athlete which is why they can still stage tournaments because each athlete can decide to play or not. look at the major team sports around the world: nba, nhl, mlb, nfl, premier league, etc... they all have a defined league infrastructure thereby giving every stakeholder a role in the decision making process. guess what? they are all currently playing. our sport lacks a proper defined infrastructure: is this a team sport or individual sport? the current answer is neither, and it puts anyone who tries to make a decision —bwf/member assn's/athletes— into a no win situation. repeatedly claiming 'we will play' then cancelling does not do anyone any good. my $0.02 worth of non-rocket science.
@ samkool For the most part I have to agree with you. But I think that the strong associations from Asia blackmailed the world association in order to cancel the tournament. Are we an individual sport or a team sport? Well we are more of an individual sport as 95% of the tournaments are individual. And whether ten players from one country play in the Thomas Cup in a team competition or ten players from one country play a week later at the Denmark Open makes no difference in terms of security because of Covid 19. The Tour de France will be held in France with 180 riders, the country with over 10,000 infections a day. There is a safety concept and the drivers are in a bubble, but thanks to the sponsors they can drive and earn money. They are professionals and they need the money. It is the same with badminton. Well, there is no prize money at the Team World Cup, but the security concept in Denmark is good and the players would have been pretty safe. I am sorry for all the volunteers from Badminton Denmark and the helpers from other countries who have invested unnecessary time in the past few months. This decision is a shame. We have to start playing again at some point, otherwise there is a risk that we will lose many sponsors to other sports and badminton will disappear into insignificance.
Agreed. I was disappointed too when INA withdrew. But though I might be able to sympathise with their current covid situation in Indonesia doesn't seem to be getting any better but the opposite in the late. They keep setting records of new daily cases. I suspect most players are worried with the long hours of journey to Denmark rather than competing in Denmark. As far as I know, many people get infected from a long duration flight or exposed to positive cases. It might be a different thing if a team could afford chartering their own flight which from monetary point of view might be unrealistic for most teams. Really really grateful to Denmark Badminton Association for their effort to make sure things go on as planned.....
One of the main deterrents is the medical liability in case of athletes or staff catching the infection during the trip since no insurance will cover them, and neither the host country nor BWF is willing to pick up the cost.
Sorry , I don't agree with you. Nobody in the whole world make a insurence against Covid. Players could also get covid at home or while training in there home country. The players should be in a safe bubble in Denmark. Why most of the withdrawn countrys ( Chinese Taipeh , Indonesia , Thailand and even Hongkong and Singapore (they were asked by BWF to fill in TC/UC cause they were not qualified) made their entrance with many players to the other two big tournaments in Denmark the week after TC/UC ? The only reason can be that there is no price money at TC/UC and they can earn much money at the other tournaments.
it's not even blackmail. absent a 'league' infrastructure they can simply do whatever they want to do whenever they want to. how many teams have any real input into the way things run right now? the federations all sit around waiting to see what bwf wants to try then make their own decisions accordingly. in a 'league' setting all federations would at the table planning how to go forward together, as a sport, with all contingencies. again, like all the other major sports. no guesswork, no surprises. a federation can choose to be a part of the 'league' or not. it prevents a country from having 'power' over the sport. decisions for the sport would be made by the collective professional stakeholders. right now it's amateur hour. i agree. it makes me mad & sad at the same time, but, who didn't see this coming due to the current way the sport is governed? it was obvious. what happens after c-19 is all clear, then the next 'crisis' happens? it'll be lather-rinse-repeat. what should bwf be doing with all of this down time? decide if badminton is run as an individual sport or a team sport going forward. they're only a few minor tweaks away from leaning one way or the other —and either way can work— but, you can't be both.
well we should cut off the World Championships, Sudirman Cup, SEA Games, European Championships and Asian Championships to make ways for Thomas-Uber Cups and Tokyo Olympic...
DenmarkOpen will be held while TUC postoned and no more Denmark Open II. The thing about TUC is it aint need Japan&China to withdraw to say enough is enough, who cares about the UberCup anyway. I would say either INA or China withdraws and the tournament will be called off, unfortunately. and so it is. This mean players(associations) have to fork their own money to attend the DenmarkOpen right?
BWF only offering fake hopes, using "wait-and-see" approach TUC 2020 Postponed; Denmark Open to Proceed 15 September, 2020 TEXT BY BWF STAFF https://bwfbadminton.com/news-single/2020/09/15/tuc-2020-postponed-denmark-open-to-proceed/ The Badminton World Federation (BWF), in full consultation and agreement with local host Badminton Denmark, has made the tough decision to postpone the TOTAL BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2020 in Aarhus, Denmark. The decision comes following the withdrawal of a number of participating teams from the TOTAL BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals and the European leg of the adjusted HSBC BWF World Tour. ================================================== BWF is looking into possible alternative dates to reschedule the World Men’s and Women’s Team Championships, but on dates not before into 2021. Meanwhile, the DANISA Denmark Open 2020 in Odense, a HSBC BWF World Tour Event, will proceed as originally planned in the BWF Tournament Calendar (13-18 October). The event will also be used as an opportunity to implement relevant COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Operating Procedures for the planned restart of international badminton tournaments. The second tournament scheduled for Odense – the VICTOR Denmark Masters 2020 – slated for 20-25 October has been cancelled as it is no longer feasible to conduct this additional event. A study into the continued feasibility of the planned Asian leg of the adjusted HSBC BWF World Tour (three HSBC BWF World Tour tournaments hosted in an Asian location) is being conducted and BWF will make further announcements as soon as details are clarified. __________ TUC ~ postponed to 2021 DEN Open ~ ON DEN Masters ~ cancelled Asia Open + World Tour Finals ~ big question, possibly called off??
So everyone lose. Current players can't get the tournament, audience can't watch the tournament, sponsor not able to advertise. Badminton is losing more and more to other sports. If it is held next year, most probably there will be less tournaments for the players to play which mean again less chance for players to earn money or exposure.
And ina, s korea, thai, tpe teams which have withdrawn from TUC, will those players be sent to DO by their national federations ?
Not likely. INA & S Korea are very concerned that the players will catch covid-19 during the trip long flight to Denmark & before, during and after the tournament, fly back from Denmark. There is no insurance that cover for it.
