Indonesia withdraws from World Championships

In the latest announcement made by the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) on Wednesday, Indonesian players will not be participating at the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships.

This decision was taken based on the rapid rise of the COVID-19 cases in Europe due to the new variant.

PBSI announced that they discussed with the player and took this decision after their consent. PBSI said, “The Indonesian badminton team has withdrawn from participating in the 2021 BWF World Championship which will take place in Huelva, Spain. We don't want to take any risks. Athletes' safety and health are paramount.”

Players that will be missing from the season-ending tournament are, fifth-seeded Anthony Ginting and seventh-seeded Jonatan Christie, top seeds Kevin Sanjaya-Marcus Fernaldi, second seeds, and defending champions Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan and sixth seeds Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto and current Olympic champions and sixth-seeded women's doubles pair of Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu.

More bad news flowed on Wednesday as Japan’s men’s singles world no.2 Kento Momota withdrew due to a back injury.

The Badminton World Federation informed that there are currently no plans to conduct any redraws. The majority of players have arrived safely in Huelva and entered the tournament bubble.

India’s PV Sindhu flew directly to Spain from Bali after concluding the Indonesia Badminton Festival.