The Austrian town of Saalbach-Hinterglemm shall tomorrow host World Cup ski races that were to be tests for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. These, along with many sport events in China and Asia, are being moved, postponed or cancelled.
It was supposed to be the first chance to see how the tracks in Yanqing perform for test events of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The International Ski Federation (FIS) announced that the downhill and super-G races would be moved to Beijing on 30 January.
Yanqing will still yet have the chance to show off its slopes. The women’s World Cup circuit will make a stop there for two speed races in February of next year.
Saalbach hosted the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1991 and is bidding to hold the event again in 2025.
Still with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifyers, events in soccer, basketball and boxing due to take place in China have been moved to other countries. They include some qualifiers that were supposed to be taking place now, in Wuhan.
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In golf, the PGA Tour’s third-tier China series has moved qualifying events to Thailand and Indonesia, reports The Khaleej Times.
Postponed Sporting Events in China
Here in Nanjing, the IAAF World Indoor Championships that were scheduled for 13-15 March are postponed for a year.
Fans of two of China’s most popular sports, football and basketball, are also going to have to wait to cheer on their favourite teams.
All domestic football matches are indefinitely postponed; the Chinese Super League season was due to kick off on 22 February. Other postponed matches include the home matches for Chinese teams taking part in the AFC Champions League; they will not be played until April, May or even later.
In basketball, the Chinese Basketball Association has postponed the CBA League second half.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced that the China Masters tournament from 25 February to 1 March has been set back to 15-20 September. A similar announcement is expected regarding the Asia Championships in Wuhan, slated for 21-26 April.
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In Hong Kong, the Women’s Open that was to take place in March will now be held in May.
Cancelled Sporting Events in Asia and China
The announcement that the Shanghai Formula 1 race will be cancelled is expected within 48 hours, reports Planet F1. Already the Chinese Formula E Grand Prix, slated for 21 March in Sanya on Hainan island, has been called off.
Other Cancellations
- HSBC Women’s World Champions and the LPGA Thailand (golf)
- Women’s Asia Pacific Amateur Championship (Thailand)
- Tour of Hainan; the International Cycling Union hopes it can be rescheduled later in 2020
- Chinese leg of the Diving World Series
- Hong Kong Marathon
If there is any solace to be had in all of this, it may well be that spectators attending the World Ski shall be now looking forward to some Austrian schnapps tomorrow evening, as opposed to the obligatory baijiu of China.
