Kuala Lumpur, Sep 15 (IANS): The Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Tuesday announced that the Thomas and Uber Cup has been postponed following a series of withdrawals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament, slated to be held in Denmark from October 3 to 11, was set to mark the resumption of international badminton after it came to a halt in March following the outbreak of novel coronavirus.

"BWF, in collaboration with Badminton Denmark, has for many months been preparing for a safe return to international badminton," BWF said in a statement.

"However, in view of the recent Covid-19 related developments around the world, a number of teams and individual players have elected not to travel to Denmark for tournaments in Aarhus and Odense; a choice the BWF has to respect and acknowledge," it added.

Countries that had withdrawn from the tournament included South Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The Indian challenge was set to be spearheaded by world champion PV Sindhu, who had initially pulled out of the tournament citing personal reasons but was later on convinced to reverse her decision by the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Meanwhile, the BWF also announced that it will conduct the Denmark Open from October 13 to 18 but has cancelled the Denmark Masters, slated to be held from October 20-25.