In addition to criticising the pollution levels in the nation’s capital. Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt has called the playing conditions poor at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. It is hosting the India Open Super 750 badminton competition, “unhealthy and unacceptable.” Despite having a stomach virus, the world number 23 fought into the second round before falling to Wang Zhi Yi of China 21-13 16-21 8-21.
Blichfeldt told the BWF media team that after her loss on Thursday. She had puked all night and could barely play in her second-round match the following day. This is not the only instance; at the 2023 Syed Modi International Super 300 competition. International athletes also voiced their displeasure with the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium’s subpar facilities. Pointing to dusty courts and bird droppings.
A few days later, when Malaysian Soong Joo Ven arrived in Guwahati for the Guwahati Masters Super 100, he complained on social media about murky brown water seeping from a sink faucet at his hotel. Furthermore, former world number one Nozomi Okuhara of Japan reported having a nightmare experience at the Odisha Open. She was forced to wait more than four hours to check into a hotel in Cuttack after being overcharged by a private driver.
Mia Blichfeldt’s Scathing Review
The Badminton Association of India (BAI), for its part, stated that it is searching for “alternative venues” to conduct the renowned event because it encountered “logistical challenges” after obtaining the venue just four days before the event. Blichfeldt wrote on Instagram, “Finally home after a long and stressful week in India. It’s 2 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. And not fair to anyone that we have to train and play in smog, birds shitting on the courts, and dirt everywhere. These conditions are too unhealthy and unacceptable. I’m happy that I managed the second round, but I’m far from satisfied.”
