Danish shuttler Mia Blichfeldt lashed out at the poor playing conditions at the ongoing India Open 2025 in New Delhi, stating the badminton players had to play and train in smog and with bird shitting on the counts. The world no.23, who was competing in the women's singles, bowed out in the round of 16 against Zhi Yi Wang of China.
Taking to Instagram, Blichfeldt detailed the problems the shuttlers had to face in the national capital because of pollution. She also revealed that for the second year running, she fell ill, thus ruing that her preparation for the tournament went to waste.
“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 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 to unhealthy and unacceptable. @bwf.official,” Blichfeldt wrote in a long Instagram post.
“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 from satisfied,” she added in the post, which also added pictures of the city and the event.
Notably, while writing, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in New Delhi showed 216, and is deemed 'severe'. According to an Indian Express report, there were several pigeons caught flying inside the indoor arena during the week.
Meanwhile, the Badminton Association of India (BAI), in a statement, said that they are in discussions with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for alternative venues in future.
“As the host and staging authority for the India Open, the Badminton Asociation of India gains access to the stadium and its infrastructure only four days before the event, which poses significant logistical challenges," BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra said in a statement
"We are already in discussions with the BWF to explore alternative venues and are actively evaluating the infrastructure options,” he added.
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