Indian Open badminton put off over security concerns

An International badminton event scheduled in Hyderabad has been postponed due to security concerns after bombs killed 40 people in the southern IT hub at the weekend, national coach Pullela Gopichand said on Tuesday.

"It has been postponed and has been tentatively fixed for the second week of January," Gopichand told Reuters.

The $150,000 Indian Open championship had been scheduled from Sept. 4-9, but doubts arose following

Gopichand said the decision was taken after discussions with Badminton World Federation vice-president Punch Gunalan.

Indian media had reported that Malaysian players had raised security concerns.

"He wanted players' concerns to be taken into consideration and so we took this decision."