Swiss Open to proceed with streamlined crowd

The Swiss Open Super 300 will proceed as scheduled, by with spectators limited to a crowd of 200.

Photo: Sven Heise / Badmintonphoto

The Swiss Open organizers announced via the event website yesterday that the Super 300 event was still on.  The announcement reads:

“The cantonal Kristenstab of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft (KKS BL) has made its decision: The Swiss Open can take place! However, without or with only a maximum of 200 spectators. The written statement of the KKS BL will follow on Monday.”

Worries had abounded since last week.  Although the event committee announced that a Federal Council decision to ban the staging of events involving 1000 persons or more would not affect the nation’s flagship badminton event, this left the forecast shadowed in doubt since it was only because it was a temporary rule, in effect until March 15th, two days before opening day of the Swiss Open.  Switzerland ranks 5th among European nations in the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection.

With the daily reports of new events being cancelled or postponed, the news out of Basel will be welcome for those looking to shore up their Tokyo Olympic qualification quest.  3-time winner Lin Dan is well out of the top 16 and is even further behind Swiss Open defending champion Shi Yuqi.  The two compatriots will meet in the first round at this year’s edition.

Five singles players make up the entirety of Korea’s national team contingent this year.  However, the Koreans, who need to stay out of Korea in order to avoid problems being admitted to the sites of their upcoming tournaments, have apparently managed to find a temporary training facility in Switzerland for the athletes who are not competing in Basel.  The doubles players had originally planned to return to Korea between the All England and India Opens but with many countries barring entry to anyone who has been in Korea in the previous 14 days, they were forced to change their schedule.