Friday 43 Sports Friday, February 14, 2020 Chinese Grand Prix, Hong Kong Sevens add to Asia’s sports calendar chaos

HONG KONG: The deadly COVID-19 coron- regular season events in Sanya, Haikou, avirus outbreak is causing chaos across Asia’s Chongqing and Guangzhou and plan a truncated sporting calendar. Some of the continent’s most season of 10 tournaments, down from 14, begin- prestigious sports events, including Formula ning in late May or June. One’s Chinese Grand Prix and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens have been postponed although FOOTBALL Tokyo has pledged that this year’s 2020 has suspended all domestic football Olympics, due to begin on July 24, will go ahead and postponed indefinitely the top-flight Chi- as planned. Here is the latest rundown of Asian nese Super League season which was due to sporting spectacles already affected by the out- kick off on February 22. The virus has hit Asia’s break and those that could follow suit: continental competitions, with four Chinese clubs’ home group matches in the AFC Champi- MOTORSPORT ons League, which began this week, being post- The Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in poned until at least April and May. Home AFC on April 19 was postponed on Cup matches for Vietnamese teams have been Wednesday after the governing body FIA took postponed or moved to away venues after the advice from its partners in China “to ensure the government banned all sports and entertainment health and safety of the travelling staff, champi- events in February. No decision has been made onship participants and fans”. Nothing has been yet on Asia’s World Cup qualifying matches next announced regarding the inaugural Vietnamese month. China are due to host the Maldives on Grand Prix, scheduled for April 5 on a Hanoi March 26 and play in Guam five days later. Fix- HONG KONG: File photo taken on April 10, 2016, Japan rugby players cheer the crowd after beating street circuit — around 135 kilometres (80 tures involving Hong Kong and Taiwan could Hong Kong to qualify for the Sevens World Series XVII on the third day of the rugby sevens tour- miles) from the Chinese border. The Chinese also be in doubt. A women’s Olympic qualifying nament in Hong Kong. Rugby’s Hong Kong and Singapore Sevens were expected to be postponed Formula E Grand Prix on the southern island of event between China, Taiwan, Thailand and Aus- yesterday as Asian sport reels from the coronavirus, with the Chinese Grand Prix, golf and football Hainan on March 21 has been scrapped. tralia scheduled for last week in Wuhan, the dis- fixtures among the long list of casualties. — AFP ease epicentre, was moved to Sydney. RUGBY UNION Sevens World Series tournaments in Hong ATHLETICS BOXING onship, Asia’s largest mixed martial arts promo- Kong on April 3-5 and Singapore the following The World Indoor Championships, scheduled A qualification event for the Tokyo Olympics tion, announced Thursday that their card in weekend have been postponed, World Rugby for Nanjing from March 13-15, were postponed initially scheduled from February 3-14 in Wuhan Chongqing on April 11 would be moved to announced yesterday. The Singapore tourna- for a year. The Hong Kong Marathon, due to take was moved to Amman in Jordan and will be held Jakarta. ment will now take place on October 10-11 and place on Sunday, was cancelled. World Athletics from March 3-11. Hong Kong a week later on October 16-18, con- is scheduled to host an elite Diamond League TENNIS cluding the 10-stop world series. The world-fa- meeting in Shanghai on May 16. CYCLING The Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I event be- mous Hong Kong S vens has not missed a year The Tour of Hainan from February 23 to tween China, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and since it was founded in 1976 — it played on dur- BADMINTON March 1 — a second-tier ProSeries race — was Uzbekistan in Dongguan was postponed and will ing the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak in the city The China tournament from Febru- cancelled. — and it is hoped the 40,000-capacity sell-out, ary 25 to March 1 has been shelved, the Bad- now be played in Dubai from March 3-7. three-day extravaganza can continue that proud minton World Federation said, while indicating HORSE RACING run by being played in October instead. The that the Asia Championships in Wuhan from Hong Kong’s famous horse racing industry is SKIING event is a huge revenue-generator for the city, April 21-26 are likely to follow suit. staggering on, although all off-course betting Men’s World Cup races in the Chinese resort with bars restaurants and hotels booked out shops are shut and twice-weekly meetings are of Yanqing, the first test events for the 2022 Bei- months in advance as thousands of players, offi- BASKETBALL taking place behind closed doors. jing Winter Olympics, were cancelled and will cials and fans fly in from all over the world. The Chinese Basketball Association has post- Just 122 people attended Wednesday’s Happy run in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria at the poned the second half of its top-flight CBA Valley card, a record low attendance. The meet- weekend. OLYMPIC GAMES League, which had been due to start on Febru- ing on the corresponding week-day 12 months Tokyo Olympics organisers yesterday hit ary 1. Last week’s women’s Olympic qualifying ago attracted more than 17,000 punters. back at speculation the Games could be tournament between China, Great Britain, Spain scrapped, with less than six months to go until and South Korea was moved from Foshan, in MMA The China Open in , set for March 30- the opening ceremony on July 24. Tokyo 2020 southern China, to Belgrade. The Singapore-based One Fighting Champi- April 5, has been cancelled. — AFP CEO Yoshiro Mori, at a meeting with Interna- tional Olympic Committee officials, said: “There are many irresponsible rumours but I would like to make it clear again that we are not consider- All Blacks fan Lindberg tickled by tee-time with Barrett ing postponing or cancelling the Games.” MELBOURNE: Major-winning Swedish golfer Lindberg said her surprise entry in the Pro- that I really like the All Blacks, the rugby GOLF Pernilla Lindberg is looking forward to the “in- Am event was fixed up by a New Zealand ac- team,” said Florida-based Lindberg, who The elite women’s US LPGA Tour cancelled credible challenge” of competing as the lone quaintance who knew the tournament director won the 2018 ANA Inspiration, her sole all three of its lucrative early-season events in woman at the New Zealand Open where she Michael Glading. Having wed in New Zealand major triumph. Asia in Thailand, Singapore and Thailand with a will tee off with two-time World Rugby Player a year ago, Lindberg had planned to visit the “(Barrett) sent me a message last night and combined prize purse of more than $5 million. of the Year Beauden Barrett. country for a holiday with her husband before said he’s excited to play with me and I might The European Tour is expected to postpone its The 33-year-old Lindberg will be the first heading to China for the Blue Bay event on have been very, very excited when I got that China Open at Shenzhen in April, with an an- woman to play in the event, with the 101st edi- Hainan island, which ended up being cancelled message.” Only a handful of women have nouncement soon. The Asian Tour told AFP tion to be staged at the Millbrook Resort and due to the coronavirus outbreak. played in men’s golf events since American Thursday that next month’s Malaysia Open and The Hills in Queenstown from Feb. 27 to “(Glading) said, ‘It’s the New Zealand Babe Zaharias crossed the gender divide to Royal’s Cup in Thailand were still going ahead March 1. Open, it’s not the men’s Open’ ... So he said if play in the 1938 Los Angeles Open. with precautions such as temperature checks “It’s going to be an incredible challenge,” we wanted to play, sure you can do it,” she Swede Annika Sorenstam and Americans and travel declarations. The US PGA Tour’s she told reporters at the Australian Open in said. Lindberg’s pairing with All Blacks full- Suzy Whaley, Michelle Wie and Brittany Lin- third-tier China Series has postponed two qual- Adelaide yesterday. “I’m not going to set any back Barrett is certain to be of major interest cicome have all featured in men’s events this ifying events, which had already been moved to kind of goals for myself, but I’m really going in rugby-mad New Zealand. century but only Zaharias managed to make Thailand and Indonesia, until early May. The to soak in the week.” “I might have mentioned to (organisers) the halfway cut.— Reuters China-based circuit has also shelved its first four