Kuala Lumpur, May 28 (IANS): The Badminton World Federation on Wednesday announced that it has extended its Olympic qualification period to next year. It said that all ranking points earned over the course of the tournaments that were played before the suspension of the sport due to the coronavirus pandemic will be maintained.

"An extended Olympic qualification period will be introduced from Week 1-17 in 2021 and includes the select number of tournaments that were postponed, cancelled or suspended due to COVID-19," BWF said in a release.

"These eligible tournaments within the new qualifying period must be completed by Week 17 in 2021."

The BWF also said that tournaments rescheduled for the end of 2020 outlined in the revamped BWF Tournament Calendar released last week will not count towards qualification.

The BWF was forced to defend its revamped calendar for the 2020 season after it faced criticism from players. The BWF last week announced new dates of the tournaments on their roster after the initial calendar was shredded due to the coronavirus pandemic which has brought the entire world to a standstill.

BWF general secretary Thomas Lund, however, stated all the players aren't expected to feature in every tournament. He also said their priority is to get the sport back on the court and the new calendar gives them a roadmap to work towards that goal.