Whether September’s Yonex Taipei Open badminton tournament is to go ahead has been thrown into doubt, with international players expressing reluctance to travel due to Taiwan’s quarantine regulations, governing body the CTBA said yesterday.
Doubts about participating in the tournament were raised by international players when they realized that regulations mandate all incoming overseas players would be required to stay in Taiwan for 14 days before they can leave the nation, regardless of how well they perform in the tournament, CTBA deputy director Chen Shih-chieh said.
The Central Epidemic Command Center’s regulations state that international players would initially have to stay at a quarantine hotel in Taoyuan for five days before being tested for COVID-19, Chen said.
Should the result come back negative, the player would be allowed to compete in the tournament, but would need to stay for 14 days, when they would be tested again, and would only allowed to leave if the result remained negative, Chen added.
“This has raised a lot of concerns from international players, as they cannot choose to leave if they happen to lose or drop out of the tournament,” Chen told the Central News Agency.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) general secretary Dato’ Kenny Goh Chee Keong on Saturday said that the association would not send a team if Taiwan enforces a “two-week mandatory quarantine” for overseas players.
Malaysian mixed doubles pairing Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, who are ranked seventh in the world and were semi-finalists in Taipei last year, have expressed their support for the decision.
“Our stand is the same as the BAM. If we are needed to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival, then most likely we are not going,” Peng Soon told Malaysian English-language newspaper the Star on Sunday.
In Taipei, the Sports Administration said it was “understandable” that overseas players are hesitant about competing in the tournament, as many major sporting events have been canceled or postponed due to the pandemic.
The Gwangju Korea Masters, originally scheduled for Nov. 24 to Nov. 29, is the latest World Tour tournament to have been canceled, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said.
The CTBA is inclined to cancel this year’s tournament, while the BWF has asked the association to postpone the event, a source familiar with the matter said.
The Sports Administration said that the CTBA and BWF are still holding talks on the matter.
The BWF Super 300 Yonex Taipei Open is scheduled to be held from Sept. 1 to Sept. 6 at the Taipei Arena.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
RSS