Indonesia Badminton Team Withdraws from 2021 World Championship in Spain

KOMPAS.com – The Indonesian badminton team has decided to withdraw from the 2021 World Championship which will be held from December 12-19 in Huelva, Spain.

The decision was made by the chief of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) Agung Firman Sampurna to ensure the safety of athletes due to the spread of coronavirus and after receiving plenty of input from the committee, coaches, as well as sports development and achievement head.

“The decision of the Indonesian badminton team to withdraw from the 2021 World Championship has been approved by PBSI chief Agung Firman Sampurna,” said PBSI operational director Alex Tirta recently.

Also read: Indonesia Takes Gold in Womens Badminton at Tokyo Olympics

The Indonesian government underscores the importance of maintaining the health and safety of the athletes and is very concerned about the spread of the Omicron variant.

“The spread of the Omicron variant causes unpredictable changes in the health protocols, which leads to our withdrawal from the 2021 World Championship,” said Rionny Mainaky, PBSI sports development, and achievement head.

“We don’t want to take risks. Athletes’ safety and health are important. We have also discussed it with the team and they agreed to withdraw from the World Championship,” Rionny added.
Besides, the government has called on the public to reduce overseas trips due to the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in European countries.

Initially, the PBSI planned to send 13 athletes to compete in the 2021 BWF World Championship. Following the cancelation, the Indonesian Badminton team will immediately prepare to compete in the tournament in 2022.

(Writer: Ferril Dennys | Editor: Ferril Dennys)

Source: https://www.kompas.com/badminton/read/2021/12/08/07362878/tim-bulu-tangkis-indonesia-resmi-mundur-dari-bwf-world-championship?page=all#page2.