Sport events postponed again as COVID-19 cases spike

Chinese women's table tennis players win the trophy at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Halmstad, Sweden, May 5, 2018. /VCG

For those who are eager for the return of sporting events, they will get disappointed as several events across the world have been delayed again amid lingering concern about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Table tennis world team championships delayed to early 2021

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) announced on Saturday that the 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Busan will be staged between February 28 and March 7, 2021.

The championships were originally scheduled to be held in the South Korean southeastern port city of Busan from March 22-29, but it was postponed to June 21-28 and once again to September 27-October 4 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

200-day Countdown event is held in Sanya, Hainan Province, May 12, 2020. /VCG

China's 2020 Asian Beach Games in discussion to reschedule

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said on Saturday that it is in discussions with the Chinese Olympic Committee and organizers to reschedule the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, southern China's Hainan province.

The 6th Asian Beach Games are scheduled from November 28 to December 6, 2020.

Earlier this week, China General Administration of Sport announced that there will not be any international sporting events held in the country apart from trial events for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

It pointed out that the hosting plan for events such as the Asian Beach Games should be "carefully adjusted."

This has also lead to the fate of a number of international badminton and tennis events in limbo that are set to be held in China in the rest of the year.

Supporters of Levski Sofia cheer their team during the national championship's football match against Ludogorets Razgrad in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 5, 2020. /VCG

Bulgaria postpones league season start

The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) postponed the start of next season's domestic top flight by two weeks after the Balkan country saw the biggest increase of COVID-19 cases in a week, with a daily record of 330 coronavirus cases on Friday and another 292 cases on Saturday.

The start of the new season, initially scheduled for July 24, will now take place on August 7.

The current league season is still under way, but on Thursday, the government ordered all games to be played behind closed doors.

More than half of Bulgarian top flight clubs as well as second-tier teams have been hit by the coronavirus, with Cherno More Varna reporting 16 cases while nine players from Cup winners Lokomotiv Plovdiv also tested positive this week.

(With input from agencies)