Badminton: Sars casts doubt over badminton showcase

English badminton officials remain hopeful that next month's World Championships in Birmingham will go ahead despite warnings yesterday by the sport's world ruling body that the tournament could be cancelled due to the outbreak of the Sars virus.

"The possibility of postponement is a lot, lot higher than it was last week," Lindsay Bell, of the International Badminton Federation, admitted yesterday, adding that a final decision would be made in the next few days.

China, badly affected by the Sars outbreak, is one of the sport's strongest nations and would potentially bring a a party of about 30 players and officials to the tournament, to be staged at the National Indoor Arena from 12-18 May. But the Badminton Association of England said it was fully aware of the concerns of other players and officials taking part and that it would continue to monitor the situation.

"The final decision is out of our hands," Stephen Baddeley, the chief executive of the England body, admitted. "The IBF will ultimately decide. We will continue to adopt a sensible approach but would point out that there are no restrictions on travellers coming into Britain. We are well aware of the gravity of the Sars epidemic but, on the advice we have been given, the championships should go ahead."

Baddeley said that the Government had not suggested postponement and noted that the World Table Tennis Championships, which also involves many Asian players, were to go ahead in Paris later in May. Last weekend, the Chinese team withdrew from the grand prix of race walking in Leamington due to fears over spreading the virus.