The threat of coronavirus has forced the Bangladesh Archery Federation to postpone the 4th ISSF International Solidarity Championships 2020, which was scheduled to be held in Tongi, Gazipur from February 23-27.
The BAF, who has been hosting the event since its inaugural edition in Dhaka in 2017, announced the postponement through a press release without revealing the reason Tuesday, but the game’s world governing body has it on their website.
“A number of teams withdrew due to travel restrictions and ongoing concerns around the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. This meant the event was no longer feasible. The tournament will be rescheduled at a later date,” the official website of World Archery said.
Bangladesh archers began their preparations for this event from January 21.
Mohammad Ruman Shana achieved yet another unprecedented feat as the premier Bangladeshi archer won the World Archery Breakthrough Athlete of the Year award for 2019 while the national team’s German coach Martin Frederick became the Coach of the Yearhttps://t.co/f01B8MsNFn#RUMAN
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) February 10, 2020
Around 150 archers from 26 countries took part in the last edition.
The coronavirus outbreak is also likely to lead to the postponement of the Asian Archery Championship in Thailand, which is scheduled to be held in March.
Around 16 Bangladesh archers were expected to participate.
“The archers are upset because it [ISSF International Solidarity Championships 2020] was their first international tournament this year and a chance to see how much they improved,” said national archery coach Ziaul Haque Tuesday.
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— DhakaTribune (@DhakaTribune) February 18, 2020
“The Asian Archery championship is scheduled for the first week of March, but I think it too is going to face the same fate,” he added
Last week, the outbreak of coronavirus was the reason behind the postponement of the maiden International Freestyle Stunt Cycling tournament, which was scheduled to begin in Dhaka on February 27.
The virus also affected Bangladesh’s participation in the South Asian Cross Country Athletics Championship 2020, which was scheduled for February 15 in Sri Lanka.
