The latest edition of the India Open badminton tournament in New Delhi would have been considered a grand success for the organisers given the high quality of competition and a packed KD Jadhav Indoor stadium over the last three days despite the Badminton Association of India introducing a ticketing system for the first time since 2011.

Part of the BWF World Tour, the only blip in the otherwise well-organised Super 750 event was the outburst by Danish women’s singles player Mia Blitfeldt about the city’s pollution levels and unhygienic conditions that led to some health issues for her.
The 27-year-old Blitfeldt, who is ranked 22nd in the world, took to social media after her second-round loss against Chinese second seed Wang Zhi Yi and blamed the conditions for her inability to give her 100 percent in the match which went into the decider and lasted just over an hour.
Finally home after a long and stressful week in India. It’s been 2 years in a row now that I got sick during the India Open. It’s really hard to accept that many weeks of work and preparing gets wasted because of bad conditions. 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 too unhealthy and unacceptable. @bwf.official, 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 fare (sic) from satisfied.
There is no doubt that air pollution in New Delhi at this time of the year has been a concern for even the residents of the Indian capital and there is not much that the BWF or even BAI can do about it. Pollution is a global problem and there have been concerns raised about air quality before the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and the water quality in Seine River before the Paris Olympic Games last year.
When it comes to the India Open, the Badminton Federation of India is already exploring the idea of organising the event in another city.
But beyond that, it is difficult to understand Blitchfeldt’s criticism. The Dane is reported to have had a stomach infection ahead of her opening round against compatriot Julie Jakobsen. She won that match in straight games and looked good for a major part of her second-round clash against Wang before running out of steam in the third game.
Understandably, Blitchfeldt would have been upset that she could not pull off a win against Wang despite pushing the Chinese to a decider but it still doesn’t explain the reason behind such a public outburst.
The BAI, which gets control of the stadium just a couple of days before the competition, had done a good job at cleaning and maintaining the venue and the incident of bird shit on the court was nothing more than a sporadic incident that cannot be controlled by anyone organising the event, just like the roof leaking incident during the Malaysia Open Super 1000 a week earlier.
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.
As far as the stomach infection is concerned, the players stay in five-star hotels and order food according to their choice. It’s quite possible that she may have eaten something that didn’t go well with her or her body just took time to adjust to conditions in New Delhi, having travelled from Malaysia, where she lost in the second round against Beiwen Zhang of the USA in straight games.
International badminton players have to adjust to different weather conditions, certain civic issues, and playing conditions week after week and everyone has to go through the same grind. It was nothing different for Blitfeldt.
When Indian players travel to Denmark, they also have to adjust to the biting cold and other challenges, and to be fair to the majority of competitors, they don’t use these things as an excuse for their losses.
To be fair to Blitchfeldt, she has been working hard to make a mark on the international circuit which is mostly dominated by Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean women’s singles players and a close loss can lead to frustration.
It is quite possible that Blitchfeldt’s recent outburst about the playing conditions was an emotional reaction from a very passionate player. It also helps keep one in the media spotlight because such outbursts become part of the news and lead to India bashing. The fact that nobody else raised major concerns about any issues related to the India Open also indicates that Blitchfeldt has overreacted a bit.
All BAI needs to do is address the areas of concern which they have control over and provide the best possible facilities to the player, so that the India Open remains one of the most sought-after tournaments for all the players across the globe.


