World sport returns to China after years of Covid cancellations

China will next week host its first major international sports event since abandon­ing strict Covid rules, heralding the return of elite competition to the country after more than three years.

With the exception of last year’s Beijing Winter Olympics, which took place in a “bubble”, almost all global sport ground to a halt in China after the pandemic emerged there in late 2019.

But China abruptly lifted its “ze­ro-Covid” policy in December and world sport organisations will be eager to relaunch lucrative tourna­ments in the world’s second-largest economy.

The Sudirman Cup team event, one of the biggest tournaments in the badminton calendar, begins on Sunday in Suzhou, near Shanghai. -—AFP