BWF freezes World, Junior Rankings due to Covid-19

KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has decided to freeze the World Rankings and also World Junior Rankings following an unprecedented suspension to international tournaments from mid-March to the end of April due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The world governing body in a statement issued today said, the freezing of rankings will be backdated to week 12, which is the week following the last international tournament that was played – the 2020 All-England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England.

BWF said that the ranking lists issued on March 17 will serve as a basis for entry and seeding into the next international tournaments.

“At present, it is difficult to predict when the next international tournament will take place with further tournaments also expected to be suspended in May and June,” BWF said.

BWF claimed that the Athletes’ Commission fully supported the freezing of the BWF World Ranking lists from Week 12, adding that the exact procedure for unfreezing the rankings will be determined based on more exact tournament calendar information presently under review.

Meanwhile, BWF revealed that they will provide more information in due course regarding the process as to how the rankings will eventually be ‘unfrozen’ after the international tournaments resume.

Therefore, they are seeking the best way to unfreeze the rankings in a staggered way to avoid any extreme drop off of points from previous tournaments in which could cause an extreme impact on the ranking structure to the players itself.

“BWF hopes to communicate more information on rescheduled tournaments in the coming weeks, which will also provide more clarity on the unfreezing of rankings once it is deemed safe to resume tournaments,” it added.

The statement also said that the decision to freeze the world rankings, however, is not applied to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualification system.