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TOKYO (Reuters) - Badminton in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics over the past week has been a saga of upsets and near-upsets, attributable to a large extent to the exceptional conditions wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Missed and canceled international tournaments due to the pandemic have cut the number of points players accumulated, kept them from scoping out the competition, and given younger, unknown players extra time to catch up to their heroes.
“The ranking list has been in an emergency state due to COVID,” said Steen Pedersen, Danish former national head coach. “They’re uncertain where their opponents stand.”