The Badminton World Federation (BWF) can confirm the withdrawal of a large contingent of Indonesian players from the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021 starting 12 December in Huelva, Spain.
Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) made the announcement on Wednesday morning expressing concerns linked to the COVID-19 situation.
A small number of Indonesian players remain in the draw.
BWF is disappointed with the decision by PBSI and regret that the withdrawal took place after the draw.
However, BWF and the Spanish Badminton Federation are now focused on delivering a safe and successful World Championships in line with the advice and measures put in place by the local and national health authorities, including a comprehensive set of safety protocols for all players, team officials and key stakeholders.
BWF can also confirm the unfortunate news that world No.2 and men’s singles defending champion Kento Momota has pulled out with injury.
Momota also withdrew from last week’s HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021 with a back issue and has returned to Japan.
Malaysian seventh seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying on Monday announced their split as a pair after 13 years and have too withdrawn from the World Championships.
A majority of players have now arrived safely in Huelva and entered the tournament bubble. Round one matches start 10am local time on Sunday. There are currently no plans to conduct any redraws.