India Open 2025 badminton: Danish shuttler criticises playing conditions as ‘not fair to anyone’, BAI says exploring alternative venues for future

“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,” Blichfeldt wrote on her Instagram page. “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 the second round, but I’m far from satisfied.”

At the time of writing this report on Saturday, the AQI in the area where the stadium is located was 215, and the Air Quality was described as severe. There were at least a couple of pigeons flying around inside the indoor arena during the week as well.

In a statement, Sanjay Mishra – Secretary, BAI said: “As the host and staging authority for the 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.”

India Open has seen the participation of global stars over the last few years, since getting upgraded to Super 750 status from the 2023 edition onward. The Indian Express understands that the stadium conditions were less than ideal when the organisers received access to the venue. The tournament is being held at the KD Jadhav indoor hall at the Indira Gandhi sports complex in New Delhi, and the regular maintenance of the venue falls under the Sports Authority of India. When asked for a comment, a ministry source however simply pointed out tournament is being organised by the BAI.

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Blichfeldt had earlier told the BWF media team earlier that she was laid low by a stomach infection and vomited all night on Tuesday. She played her first-round match late on Wednesday night against compatriot Julie Jakobsen and prevailed 21-9, 21-14. But on Thursday, she found the going tough against in-form Wang Zhi Yi of China. Still, the Dane managed to take a game as she lost 13-21 21-16 8-21 in a match that lasted 63 minutes.

“That night (Tuesday) 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,” Blichfeldt told BWF after her round of 16 defeat.

“It’s not so nice for me, but I’m happy with the match I pulled yesterday and the outcome today but I wish I could have gone to court at 100 per cent. 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.”

Earlier on Thursday, the French mixed doubles pair of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue had also told the media in the interview zone that the weather conditions were not great. “The playing hall is pretty nice,” Gicquel had said. “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.”

In 2024, Blichfeldt had lost in the opening round against Akane Yamaguchi. She had later posted on social media: “Unfortunately not the desired ending of 3 weeks tournaments in Asia. After arriving from New Dehli to Jakarta, I was plagued by disease and food poisoning.