World Junior Badminton Championships 2020 cancelled
Oct 22, 2020
Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], October 22 : The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday announced that World Junior Championships 2020 slated to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, has been cancelled owing to the coronavirus crisis.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said: "We are of course disappointed not to be able to stage the 2020 version of the BWF World Junior Championships, but the entry restrictions in place and complexities related to the COVID-19 situation makes it impossible for the event to be planned and therefore hosted in New Zealand in January 2021 as currently scheduled."
The apex body of Badminton has accepted a proposal of New Zealand to stage the 2024 edition as a replacement for the edition lost.
"We would like to thank Badminton New Zealand, tournament organisers, its partners ATEED and the New Zealand Government, for their enthusiasm and commitment to staging the World Junior Championships," he said.
"It only seems fair recognition of their efforts to stage these championships that we award them the 2024 edition," he added.
Hosts for 2021, 2022, and 2023 championships were already awarded by BWF Council in 2018, and now in 2024, the tournament will be hosted by New Zealand.
Badminton New Zealand Chief Executive Joe Hitchcock said: "Although we are tremendously disappointed with this news, it is the right decision to make due to the current situation."
"We know that the world was looking forward to visiting New Zealand and enjoying a truly inspiring event with the best young badminton players on the planet and we feel for all those impacted by this cancellation," he added.
