A BEACH volleyball tournament in Yangzhou, China, originally scheduled from April 22 to 26 has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) said the tournament will be rescheduled after the Tokyo Olympics. That means players hoping to earn points they need to qualify for the Summer Games will have one less opportunity to rise in the rankings.
Another tournament is scheduled in China at Siming the following week and a third is scheduled for Jinjiang from May 13 to 17.
“The FIVB expresses its deepest sympathy and solidarity to the whole volleyball community in China, following the impact the coronavirus outbreak has had on the country, its people and the millions of passionate volleyball players and fans,” the international governing body said in a statement. “We understand that China is taking all necessary measures to contain the outbreak, so that it can reassume its rightful place on the world volleyball stage as soon as possible.”
The bulk of the Olympic beach volleyball field is filled by two-person teams that earn points on the FIVB tour over a two-year period. Yangzhou and Siming are four-star events, awarding more points than all but the four major tournaments. The Jinjiang tournament is a three star.
The Asian Weightlifting Championships is being moved from Kazakhstan at less than nine weeks’ notice because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Uzbekistan is taking over as host and will stage the Championships in Tashkent, the venue for the Asian Youth and Junior Championships which are now taking place.
The Asian Weightlifting Federation (AWF) was forced to act to allow China, from where the potentially deadly virus originated, to compete.
Kazakhstan’s capital city Nur-Sultan—which was known as Astana until March last year—had been due to host the championships from April 16 to 25. But Kazakhstan is not currently allowing entry to any visitors from China and it was confirmed at the weekend that it has withdrawn as host nation.
Weightlifting becomes the third sport forced to make other arrangements because of Kazakhstan’s policy regarding the virus.
Kazakhstan also declined to host the Fed Cup Asia Zone tennis tournament from February 4 to 8, which has been postponed, and the Asian Water Polo Championships which were to have taken place last week.
The Asian Championships will be held on the original dates in Tashkent, with the AWF Congress on Friday April 17, and the competition running from April 18 to 25.
The third and final six-month phase of qualifying for Tokyo 2020 ends on April 30.