The Hong Kong Open and the Macau Open have been called off from the BWF World Tour 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Badminton World Federation announced on Thursday.
The Macau Open had been scheduled from November 1-6 while the Hong Kong Open was to be held from November 8-13 this year.
“In light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation and complexities of quarantine measures in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Badminton Association (HKBA) had been working closely with government authorities to seek special approval on easing some restrictions for event participants,” said a statement from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“However, with quarantine restrictions still required for all overseas visitors, HKBA concluded there was no other viable option than to cancel the tournament.
“Similarly, after considering all travel and entry restrictions into Macau, and the ongoing health prevention measures in place, Badminton Federation of Macau informed BWF there was no possibility to conduct their tournament this year.”
This is the third consecutive year that the Hong Kong Open, a Super 500 event, and the Macau Open, a Super 300 event, have been cancelled due to complications over COVID-19. Both tournaments were last held in 2019.
Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone was the inaugural men’s singles champion at the Hong Kong Open in 1982 while Saina Nehwal won the women’s singles title in 2010.
Former world champion PV Sindhu has won a hat-trick of Macau Open titles in the women’s singles in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
