BWF World Tour Finals 2022 moved to Bangkok, rescheduled
The move comes after Guangzhou, China, informed badminton's world governing body it could no longer host the season-ending tournament.
Badminton
Badminton's season-ending World Tour Finals tournament is set to take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 7–11 December 2022, a week earlier and in a different country than originally scheduled.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's international federation, has announced the new dates after confirming that Guangzhou, China, was no longer able to host the event due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
"BWF in consultation with the Chinese Badminton Association (CBA) agreed to relocate the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2022 due to the various challenges brought about by the current pandemic situation," the federation said in a statement.
Thailand's capital, which hosted the 2020 Finals in January 2021, has stepped in to hold the tournament at the Nimibutr Arena.
The BWF said the change in dates was "due to stadium availability and a consequence of the change in location."
The top eight in each of badminton's five disciplines – men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles – on the World Tour Race to Guangzhou rankings, based on their season results in tour events, will qualify for the Finals.
All 40 qualifiers will be confirmed after this week's last regular Tour event of the season, the Australian Open.