Tokyo, Jul 8 (IANS): The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Japan Table Tennis Association (JTTA) have announced that the 2020 Japan Open will not be going ahead, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event was scheduled to take place in Kitakyushu between April 21–26, but was provisionally postponed as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

"Since then, the ITTF and JTTA have been working together to find new suitable dates for the event towards the end of the year. However, the ongoing travel restrictions to Japan amidst the pandemic have made it impossible to reschedule the event in 2020," ITTF said in a statement.

"The ITTF continues to explore the possibility of holding alternative events, which could be implemented for the remainder of 2020, in case the COVID-19 pandemic does not allow the staging of full open international events as originally planned," it added.

ITTF has cancelled about 30 tournaments since February and all events before August postponed.