Thomas-Uber Cup Finals on red alert after another pullout.

PETALING JAYA: It’s red alert for the Thomas-Uber Cup Finals as Thailand became the latest nation to pull out of the world’s premier badminton team event due to concerns over the Covid-19 pandemic.

The president of the Badminton Association of Thailand Khunying Patama announced yesterday that they were withdrawing from the men and women’s competitions from Oct 3-11 in Aarhus, Denmark, because their top players did not want to travel to Europe due to the

risk involved.

Taiwan had earlier announced their intention to skip this year’s event due to similar reasons.

Several players, including India’s reigning women’s world champion P.V. Sindhu and Malaysia’s doubles pair Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong, have declined to play for their respective countries due to personal reasons and concerns over the virus.

China and South Korea are still waiting for the green light from their respective governments to open their borders while it’s unsure whether Australia will send their Uber Cup team.

The hosts and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) have assured all participating teams that they had nothing to worry about as they had put in place safety protocols and measures for all.

The world body, for now, are going ahead with the Finals but it’s uncertain whether they will proceed if more teams pull out.

The Finals in Aarhus is set to be the first tournament this season after all competitions were halted since the All-England in March.