Canberra Tennis Tournament Relocated

The Australian Bushfires has prompted for numerous sporting events to be cancelled or relocated. The most recent is the Canberra Tennis Tournament, which was confirmed this week to be moving to Bendigo. This comes after plums of smoke have begun terrorizing the Canberra Region, which would inevitably affect the breathing conditions for wildfires. This announcement comes after more than 100+ bushfires have scorched through ten million acres, destroying more than one thousand homes in the process. These bushfires have also taken the lives of 500 million animals.

The Canberra Tennis Tournament received a saving grace by acquiring relocation. Recently, a matchup for cricket in Sydney saw the event abandoned because of similar issues. It was for this significant event that the authorities behind the Canberra Tennis International began relocation efforts, eventually reaching a deal with the region of Bendigo. This announcement came less than 24 hours before these matchups were slated to start. Kim Kachel, the Chief Executive for the Canberra Tennis International, noted that their main priority is the health and safety of everyone involved. This included the volunteers, stakeholders, players, guests and staff.

Kim expressed that after she received a significant debriefing from the local fire authorities and weather reports, it has concurred that the conditions were unfavourable. That playtime wouldn’t most likely start if they remained in Canberra. Immediately all tennis players were relocated to Dingo via air support, avoiding the numerous shut down roads and ferries across Australia. This tournament being cancelled would’ve meant one less event for the ATP Men’s Challenger Tour and ITF Women’s Futures Tour. It should be noted that this is a low ranked competition which sees the legends of tomorrow compete for championship titles.

Cricket Postponed

Though officials terminated one matchup for cricket, most of the matchups slated for Australia Vs New Zealand occurred without any disruption. Plums of smoke weren’t surrounding the capital city on Friday, with bushfires remaining outside the region. However, alterations in the wind patterns caused by the smoke to move towards Sydney. The result was the third matchup between New Zealand and Australia having to be postponed for six hours. Afterwards, players were mainly unaffected with clouds and smoke passing over the region. It was the day after that the next match was terminated, with temperatures reaching 104 Degrees. It’s unknown if any other upcoming events are planned during these horrendous conditions in Australia.

Tennis Events