BWF announces 2022 calendar, India to host three tournaments in January

The BWF has come up with its calendar for 2022, and India is slated to host three tournaments the next year. A new tournament -- the Odisha Open -- will be played in January. Meanwhile, the India Open Super 500, which was cancelled due to Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, will be the first tournament of the year, scheduled from January 11 to 16.

Then the Syed Modi International Super 300 tournament will follow and will be held from January 18 to 23. The last Indian tournament on the list will be the Odisha Open Super 100, to be played from January 25 to 30. "The HSBC BWF World Tour calendar is based on the principle of cluster tournaments primarily throughout Asia as well as traditional European tournament stops where the prospect of travel in that region is more viable," the BWF said in a statement.

BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund said: "The goal has always been to put player safety first and with the success of the Asian Leg in January 2021 in Thailand serving as a gateway for international competitions to resume, the BWF Tournament Calendar for 2022 has a number of cluster tournaments planned to mitigate the complexity surrounding cross-border travel.

"However, BWF hopes to gradually transition to conducting tournaments with fewer Covid-19 restrictions in 2022 as we slowly return to normalcy with less limitations on hosting international events," he added.