New Delhi: Danish shuttler Mia Blichfeldt has slammed the playing conditions at the $950,000 India Open being held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex after falling ill during her stay in the national capital the past week.
“Finally home after a long and stressful week in India. It’s two years in a row now that I get sick during India Open. It’s really hard to accept that many weeks of work and preparation get wasted because of bad conditions,” the world No.23 said in an Instagram post on Saturday, tagging the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“It’s not fair to anyone that we have to train and play in smog, birds shitting on the courts and dirt everywhere. These conditions are unhealthy and unacceptable. I’m happy that I managed to go on court and win my first round and still play a good match in second round, but I’m far from satisfied.”
The 27-year-old was vomitting all night due to a stomach bug before she won her first round of the Super 750 tournament against compatriot Julie Dawall Jokobsen on Wednesday. She lost to China’s Wang Zhi Yi in the second round on Thursday.
“That night was terrible. The only sleep I got was in the morning because I kept throwing up all night. I’m really tired now and my body is really dead. It’s not so nice for me. I wish I could have gone to court at 100 percent,” Blichfeldt had told BWF after her first round.
“It happened Tuesday evening. It took a lot of mental work (to get on court). It’s really frustrating when you’ve been training to come to these tournaments and then this is one of the things that stops you from performing.”
French shuttler Thom Gicquel also complained about the pollution levels in the national capital. “The playing hall is pretty nice. But the weather is pretty cold here in Delhi and the pollution is really high right now, so it’s not easy to play, not the best conditions to play in,” he said.
The India Open is taking place at the 5,000-seater KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in the IG Sports complex which also houses the main 15,000-seater Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and the 3,000-seater velodrome. All three structures are the properties of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
As the organiser of the country’s top badminton event, Badminton Association of India (BAI) said: “As the host and staging authority for the Yonex Sunrise India Open, the Badminton Association of India gains access to the stadium and its infrastructure only four days before the event, which poses significant logistical challenges. We are already in discussions with the BWF to explore alternative venues and are actively evaluating the infrastructure options.”
The complaint doesn’t bode well for India considering that it is due to host the World Junior Championships this year (in Guwahati from October 6-11) and the BWF World Championships next year.
