PSM CEO Iliyas Jamil said the corporation had brought in a contractor to carry out immediate works to channel the rainwater to another area since 4.30pm yesterday. The area was open for use again by 8pm.

“We have stationed more than 10 staff members on site during the tournament to ensure that this incident won’t reoccur. We have also identified areas with potential leaks and carried out immediate prevention works,” he said in a statement.

He added that Axiata Arena had been undergoing roof replacement works carried out by contractors appointed by the public works department (JKR) since April last year which would take a year to complete.

“PSM also met with the federal territories JKR and contractors on Dec 30 and stressed that the tournament must not be affected by the repair works,” he said.

A downpour yesterday evening left Court 2 and Court 3 of the stadium soaked with rainwater leaking from the roof.

At the time, Malaysian women’s doubles pair Goh Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing were taking on China’s Jia Yi Fan-Zhang Shu Xian on Court 2 while India’s HS Prannoy was in action against Canadian Brian Yang on Court 3 in the men’s singles.

Iliyas said yesterday that the inclement weather, coupled with strong winds, had worsened the situation and led to rainwater leaking onto the courts.

Badminton World Federation (BWF) event director (tournament operations) S Selvaamresh said BWF had to revise its tournament schedule and postpone some of the suspended matches from yesterday to today.