Hong Kong badminton team pull out of opening World Tour events in Europe over pandemic fears
- ‘Player safety is always our top priority’ says coach after Sports Institute reviews pandemic situation in Europe
- Lee Cheuk-yiu will have to wait until the tour comes to Asia in late March to try to seal a place at Tokyo Olympics
Olympic hopeful Lee Cheuk-yiu will miss the opening two tournaments of badminton’s World Tour in Europe because of the pandemic, hoping he can clinch Tokyo 2020 qualification when the tour comes to Asia in late March.
Hong Kong coach Tim He Yiming said the team would not join the Swiss Open and the German Open when the tour starts early next month after reviewing the pandemic situation in Europe, nor the following All England Open in Birmingham, one of the three highest level tournaments.
Both the Swiss and German tournaments are part of the remaining Olympic qualifiers, while the 2020 All England Open was the last major tournament that counted in the qualification process before the pandemic hit the world sporting calendar.
“We have already entered the players for the European events but the Sports Institute has advised it’s better not to send our players after reviewing the pandemic situation in Europe,” said the coach.
“Players’ safety always remains our top priority and therefore we would probably rejoin the world tour when the Asian events kick off in late March.