KUALA LUMPUR: Next year’s French Open badminton championships has been brought forward to March to act as a key trial of the venue and facilities as part of the wider Paris 2024 Olympics testing programme.
Badminton World Federation (BWF) said the World Tour Super 750 event has been rescheduled from its traditional October date to March 5-10, 2024.
The delay in the completion of the Porte de la Chapelle Arena, which is the badminton venue for the Paris 2024 Olympics, means that it will not be ready in time for testing for this year’s French Open which will now be held at the Glaz Arena from Oct 24-29.
“BWF, in consultation with the French Badminton Federation (FFBad) and Paris 2024 organising committee, agreed to move the (2024) French Open to its new slot in March 2024, to ensure vital familiarisation time for players and organisers at the Paris 2024 competition venue, whilst moving the Orleans Masters 2024 back a week from March 12-17.
“That means next year’s All England (Super 1000) and Orleans Masters (Super 300) will both be held from March 12-17, with the China Masters (Super 100) moving to March 19-24 to cater for the additional tournament,” BWF said.
BWF also confirmed that the ranking points from the 2023 and 2024 French Open and 2024 Orleans Masters would all count towards the Race To Paris Rankings, which will run from May 1, 2023 to April 28, 2024.
The world badminton governing body also confirmed that FFBad has decided to move the 2023 French Open away from Paris to the northwest city of Rennes (Glaz Arena) due to a clash with the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The 8,000-capacity newly-built Porte de la Chapelle Arena will host badminton, rhythmic gymnastics, para badminton and powerlifting next year.
According to media reports, delays in steel supply from Ukraine due to the Russian invasion caused the delay of the venue, which will be known as Adidas Arena after the Olympics and Paralympics. -Bernama
