Harpal Singh Bedi / Gurugram
The dreaded the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has taken toll of another International Sporting event in the country. The Hero Indian Open Golf scheduled to take place from March 19-22 at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram,, has been postponed due to the ongoing threat posed by the spread of the Coronavirus .
Earlier ,the Shooting World Cup was also postponed due to this reason.
The decision to defer the Hero Indian Open was made following consultation between the Indian Golf Union , the tournament’s co-sanctioning partners – the Asian Tour and the European Tour – and the tournament title sponsor Hero MotoCorp Ltd, after the latest public health travel advisories announced by the Indian government.
All parties are looking into the possibility of rescheduling the tournament at some point later in the year, but there are no definitive plans at this stage.
Chief Executive of the European Tour Keith Pelley in a statement said “In these difficult global circumstances, we fully understand and appreciate the recent restrictions introduced in respect of travel into India.
‘ As these new measures now prevent many members of both Tours being able to play in the tournament, everyone involved in the staging of the Hero Indian Open felt it was the correct decision to postpone the tournament.
“I would like to thank Dr Pawan Munjal and everyone at Hero MotoCorp in addition to the Indian Golf Union for their continued support, and we look forward to returning to India in due course.”
Asian Tour Commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant added: “With these new travel regulations now in place, there has been a significant impact on the ability of our members, officials and service teams of both Tours to make their entry into India for the tournament.
“We will continue to take advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and local health authorities while monitoring the situation in relation to the possibility of rescheduling the event later in the year.”