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The Thomas & Uber Cup finals are most likely to be postponed to 2021 and may be conducted after next year's Tokyo Olympics after a slew of withdrawals from several countries, owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
The Thomas & Uber Cup are the world's most prestigious badminton national team tournaments for both men (Thomas Cup) and women (Uber Cup) and are held every two years. The tournaments always has the topmost shuttlers from around the world competing for national glory on the big stage.
This year's Thomas & Uber Cup was scheduled to be held between October 3 - 11 in Aarhus, Denmark, and marked the return of international badminton after the tour had been suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most recent withdrawals from the tournaments were bigwigs Indonesia and South Korea, as they joined the likes of Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Indonesia are one of the most successful nations in the competitions with 13 Thomas Cup and 3 Uber Cup victories.
According to a report in Malaysian media outlet The Star, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) decided the postponement at an emergency virtual meeting on Sunday and will make an official announcement soon. Indonesia's withdrawal was a major cause of concern for the federation as the sponsors of the tournament required the top three teams to play.
Saina Nehwal had expressed concerns about playing
Indian shuttler and former World No.1 ranked player Saina Nehwal had posted a message on her Twitter account expressing her concern about the safety of conducting the Thomas & Uber Cup amidst the ongoing pandemic.
Saina Nehwal was set to lead the Indian women's team challenge along with PV Sindhu, who had agreed to join the team after initially pulling out of the contingent due to personal reasons.
The Indian preparatory camp was hit by a setback as many players refused to be quarantined under the conditions set by the Sports Authority of India at the camp in Hyderabad.
The Thomas & Uber Cup's postponement will mark the third postponement of the tournament this year after it was initially scheduled for May 16 - 24 and later moved to August 15 - 23 before the October date was finalized. We expect the BWF to make an official announcement about the decision within the coming days.
