The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has announced that it will freeze the World Rankings and World Junior Rankings until further notice on Monday.

The freezing of rankings will be backdated to the week following when the last international tournament that was played – the YONEX All England Open 2020.

The ranking lists issued on 17 March 2020 will serve as a basis for entry and seeding into the next international tournaments.

In the current rankings, China's Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong are on the top in mixed doubles, Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan are No. 1 in female doubles, and male doubles' Li Junhui/ Liu Yuchen rank third.

Chen Yufei is World No. 2 female shuttler, while Chen Long and Shi Yuqi rank fifth and ninth in the men's single list respectively.

The world rankings are important to players as a top 32 player or pair will be able to gain access into tournaments of all-tiers. 

At the same time, the consequences of freezing the World Rankings will not apply to the Olympic qualification system.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the badminton community is suspended from mid-March 2020 to the end of April 2020, with further tournaments also expected to be suspended in May and June.

(With input from agencies)