This year's Thailand Open badminton tournament has been cancelled due to political problems.
Organisers have decided to scrape the tournament, which was scheduled to take place in Bangkok from June 3-8, because it is not likely that the on-going political crisis will be over in the near future.
"The association has decided not to host the tournament this year for the safety of athletes and concerned parties," said Khunying Patama Leesawadtrakul, president of the Badminton Association of Thailand.
"We cannot move the event to a new date because the schedule of the Badminton World Federation has been fully booked."
It is the second time in five years that the annual tournament has been cancelled because of political reasons.
In another development, Thai second seed Busanan Ongbumrungpan lost to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 16-21, 21-8, 21-4 in the semi-finals of the women's singles at the U19 Asian championships in Taiwan yesterday.
Fourth seed Yamaguchi also beat Busanan in the semi-finals of the World Junior Championships in Bangkok last year on her way to winning the title.