BWF Tour Schedule Too Close for Comfort | Badminton News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The season’s BWF World Tour calendar is raising concerns among leading players, who say the tight turnaround between major events is making season planning and peak performance difficult.Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The discussion has become more relevant ahead of the 2026 World Championships, which will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium from August 17 to 23. The World Championships will be followed by the China Masters Super 750 in Shenzhen from September 1 to 6, and then the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, starting on September 19. There remains about a week between the World Championships and the China Masters, and about two weeks between the China Masters and the Asian Games. Games.

“The schedule is too tight,” Thailand’s former world champion Ratchanok Intanon told TOI during the recent India Open Super 750, “I just play when I’m ready. If I’m not ready, I just quit… means I won’t play there. So I’m trying to choose which event I can play.”The issue is further complicated by the Badminton World Federation’s Top Committed Player Program, which mandates participation for top players. This includes the top 15 singles players and the top 10 doubles pairs competing in all Super 1000 and Super 750 tournaments, and two of the nine Super 500 events. Missing will result in a fine of $5,000 per occurrence unless the player provides a valid medical certificate or proof of incapacity. Players say the short breaks make it challenging to prepare, especially during periods when multiple important events converge.

Singapore’s former world champion Loh Kean Yew said: “There are one or two tournaments between the World Championships and the Asian Games,” he said. “It will be difficult to choose and to actually periodize whether we will play in those tournaments or not. So that in itself will be a question mark.”World No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand highlighted the number of tournaments in certain months. “In this month (January) itself, we have three or four tournaments,” he said.“You can’t play every tournament because you run the risk of overloading your body and that leads to injuries. I think every player knows he has to choose some tournaments.”The mandatory tournament rule came into focus at the India Open when world number 3 Anders Antonsen withdrew for the third consecutive year due to air pollution in Delhi. Despite the explanation, Antonsen was fined $5,000.