Indonesia to host last three events of the season as top-class tour resumes in region after 10 months
\n JAKARTA
\nTop-class tour badminton returns to Asia for the first time in 10 months as men\u2019s world number one Kento Momota heads a strong line-up for three events in Indonesia culminating in the season-ending World Tour Finals.
\nOlympic gold medallist Viktor Axelsen of Denmark is seeded to meet Japan\u2019s Momota in the final of this week\u2019s Indonesia Masters, which also features Tokyo bronze winner and home favourite Anthony Ginting.
\nBut Olympic silver medallist Chen Long will be missing, along with all players from China, for the first of three back-to-back events on the resort island of Bali beginning Tuesday.
\nGinting said he was grateful to be able to play at home again, even though there will be no spectators allowed inside the strict bubble to which the players will be confined for three weeks to protect them from coronavirus.
\n\u201cNot only team Indonesia, but all the players have waited to play in front of huge crowds as we had during previous tournaments in Jakarta,\u201d said Ginting.
\n\u201cBut we\u2019re still trying to be grateful that the tournaments could be resumed.\u201d
\nWomen\u2019s world number one and Olympic silver medallist Tai Tzu-Ying of Taiwan is skipping the Indonesia events, while China is not sending any players, meaning Olympic champion Chen Yufei will also be absent.
\nThe top seed in the women\u2019s will be Akane Yamaguchi, the world number three from Japan, who will face a field featuring Olympic bronze medallist PV Sindhu of India and second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.
\nAsian badminton fans have been starved of action for almost two years because of the coronavirus pandemic.
\nThe last BWF World Tour events to take place on the continent were held in Thailand in January without spectators, as were the Tokyo Olympics.
\nPlayers have been warming up and acclimatising since last week, but are confined to their Bali hotel and the arena.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re not allowed to go out once they\u2019ve arrived at the hotel. We\u2019re providing for their needs here,\u201d Indonesia Badminton Association spokesman Broto Happy told AFP.
\nThe players are staying in a luxury resort with plenty to occupy them, including a private beach.
\nBadminton World Tour events in Indonesia are usually played in the capital, Jakarta, but organisers opted for Bali, which has been badly affected by the loss of visitors during the pandemic.
\n\u201cBy holding the tournaments in Bali, we hope to at least revive its economy, which heavily relies on tourism,\u201d Happy said.
\nThe spectator ban has come as a disappointment for many in a country where badminton is hugely popular.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sad that I can\u2019t watch the games in person, but I understand doing it without spectators is the best setting,\u201d said fan Renata Indra Adiningtyas, 19, who has resigned herself to watching the tournaments on television.
\nThe Indonesia Masters ends on Sunday. The Indonesia Open takes place from November 23-28 and the season-ending BWF Tour finals run December 1-5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indonesia to host last three events of the season as top-class tour resumes in region after 10 months JAKARTA Top-class tour badminton returns to Asia for the first time in 10 months as men\u2019s world number one Kento Momota heads a strong line-up for three events in Indonesia culminating in the season-ending World Tour Finals. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n