Kuala Lumpur, Jun 28 (IANS): The Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 and the BWF World Tour Finals, two key badminton tournaments this year which were originally planned to take place in China, have now been moved to Vantaa, Finland and Bali, Indonesia respectively, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said on Monday.

Announcing an updated tournament calendar for the remainder of 2021 after the Tokyo Olympics, BWF said the Covid-19 restrictions have hampered efforts to conduct tournaments in China this year, including the Sudirman Cup Finals in Suzhou and the BWF World Tour Finals 2021 in Guangzhou, reports Xinhua.

Alternatively, Vantaa, Finland is the new host of the Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 from September 26 to October 3, followed by the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals 2020 in Aarhus, Denmark which had been postponed last year.

Three consecutive BWF World Tour events will then follow in Europe.

In November, the BWF World Tour will move to Asia, with Indonesia hosting a three-tournament Asian Leg in Bali, including the BWF World Tour Finals.

The final tournament of the calendar year will be the World Championships in Huelva, Spain in mid-December.