The Celcom Axiata Malaysia Open 2021 has been postponed due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the host country, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) confirmed on Friday.
The postponement of the event has served as a major blow to the Tokyo dreams of Indian ace shuttlers like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth.
The Super 750 tournament was scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur from May 25 to 30. "While our preparations are on track to host the tournament,the prevailing conditions and the recent surge of the COVID 19 cases globally have left us with no other plausible course of action," said BAM in a statement.
"Following close consultation with health authorities and the World Badminton governing body, Badminton World Association (BWF) , we have reached the decision to postpone the tournament," added the statement.
The turnout of events have come as a massive setback for Indian badminton stars Saina and Srikanth in their pursuit to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
After the India Open that was scheduled to be held from May 11-16 got postponed, the duo's qualification for Tokyo relied on the Kuala Lumpur tournament followed by the Singapore Open scheduled to take place from June 1-6.
PV Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth and the men's doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are the Indian Badminton Players who have already booked their berths for the Tokyo Olympics.
