Asian badminton hit amidst others

Shanghai, March 4: Next month’s Badminton Asia Championships have been moved out of Wuhan, epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, to the Philippine capital Manila, officials said on Wednesday.

The Asia Championships will be staged in Manila on April 21-26. “Badminton Asia (BA) together with Philippine Badminton Association has been working closely to ensure visa approval for player and officials’ entry into Manila for all participants in this important and prestigious Championship,” BA said in a statement.

The coronavirus has forced the postponement or cancellation of several badminton tournaments, disrupting the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

NO RANKING POINTS AT SHOOTING WORLD CUP The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) on Wednesday said the upcoming New Delhi World Cup will not carry ranking points, even as the organisers remained hopeful of going ahead with the tournament despite a few withdrawals owing to the novel coronavirus threat.

The ISSF said there will no ranking points in the tournament scheduled to be held from March 15 to 26.

“Due to local restrictions relating to the COVID-19 virus introduced by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India, the organisers of the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi cannot guarantee the participation of all the athletes who would like to enter those competitions. Therefore no ranking points can be earned at this World Cup. Still, it will be possible to achieve the MQS that can influence on athletes’ chances to get the desired Olympic quota places,” the ISSF said in a statement.

Countries such as Bahrain, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, North Korea and Turkmenistan have already pulled out of the tournament due to the virus.

BENGALURU BASKETBALL QUALIFIERS POSTPONED

The FIBA 3x3 basketball Olympic qualifying tournament, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru from March 18 to 22, has been postponed in view of the coronvirus outbreak.

“The FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualification Tournament, which was scheduled to be held in Bengaluru, India, from March 18 to 22, 2020, has been postponed,” Fdration Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) said in a statement.

Twenty teams each in men’s and women’s events were to participate in the event.

ITALIAN CUP SEMIFINALS HAVE BEEN PUSHED The Italian Cup semifinal clash between Juventus and AC Milan has been postponed as fears mount over the coronavirus epidemic in northern Italy, local authorities in Turin announced. Napoli’s Italian Cup semifinal second leg against Inter Milan has also been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. — Agencies