JAKARTA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian Badminton Association has officially submitted the cancellation of the 2020 Indonesia Masters to the Badminton World Organization (BWF) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the association said.
The tournament was initially scheduled to take place from September 29 to October 4 this year at the Istora Senayan Sports Stadium in the country's capital of Jakarta, according to the association.
"This is because the novel coronavirus outbreak is hitting Indonesia," Secretary General of the Indonesian Badminton Association Achmad Budiharto said in a statement on Thursday evening.
On the reschedule of the tournament, Budiharto could not confirm yet, as the nations in the world are still scrambling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to the 2020 Indonesia Masters, the Indonesian Badminton Association has also decided to cancel an international junior badminton tournament which was initially scheduled to take place from September 8 to 13 in the country, according to him.
On two other international badminton championships which were initially scheduled to be held in August and October in Indonesia, there is no information yet on whether they would be rescheduled or aborted during the virus pandemic, according to the association.
Indonesia has been scrambling to overcome the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic which has been spreading fast across the vast-archipelagic nation.
On Friday, the Health Ministry announced the biggest daily jump in the virus infection after identifying 435 new cases, bringing the total to 8,211 with the number of deaths rising to 689. Enditem
