Orleans Masters cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

Orleans Masters badminton tournament later this month, where six Indians were to participate, was on Friday cancelled due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, joining a growing list of Olympic qualifying events which were affected by the deadly disease.

"Due to the latest government and federal decisions, we are announcing that the 2020 edition of the Orleans Masters has been cancelled," Orleans Masters Badminton said in a tweet.

The USD 90,000 BWF Tour Super 100 tournament, which was scheduled to be held in Orleans, France from March 24 to 29, is the latest badminton event to be affected following the postponement of China Masters (February 25 to March 1), Vietnam International Challenge (March 24-29), German Open (March 3 to 8) and Polish Open (March 26-29).

Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram, Subhankar Dey, Kiran George, Siddharth Pratap Singh, Chirag Sen, Mithun Manjunath were part of the draw in the tournament.

There were also reports of the postponement of USD 408,000 Singapore Open World Tour Super 500 tournament, the last event in the Olympic qualification period which ends on April 28.

The USD 400,000 India Open Super 500 event is also under threat due to the coronavirus pandemic after Delhi government decided to ban all sports activities in the national capital for a month.

There is no clarity so far about the visa process of the foreign players who are participating in the India Open with the government on Wednesday night issuing a revised travel advisory, suspending all existing visas, except diplomatic and employment, till April 15.