Danish shuttler criticises Delhi's air pollution, stadium conditions at India Open: 'Finally home after a stressful week'

Danish badminton player Mia Blichfeldt has criticised the air pollution in India’s national capital Delhi which is currently hosting the India Open Super 750 tournament. World No. 23 Blichfeldt of Denmark was ousted from the India Open after losing to China’s Wang Zhiyi in the Round of 16 in the tournament which is being held at the KD Jadhav indoor hall of the Indira Gandhi sports complex in New Delhi.

Delhi has constantly ranked among the most polluted cities in the world with the air quality levels regularly crossing the 1000 AQI level, which is in the hazardous category.

Blichfeldt slams smog in Delhi

Blichfeldt, however, did not stop at slamming Delhi’s air pollution levels. She also questioned the poor infrastructure, mentioning that “birds shitting on the courts and dirt” is everywhere in the stadium.

“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,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s really hard to accept that many weeks of work and preparing get 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.”

🚨“Unhealthy And Unacceptable”:

Denmark’s World No. 23 badminton player, Mia Blichfeldt, spoke strongly against Infrastructural Maintenance, Pollution Levels In New Delhi, And Overall Player Well-being. pic.twitter.com/ZWpFY0h6mu

— Gems (@gemsofbabus_) January 18, 2025

Blichfeldt told Badminton World Federation (BWF) media that she had a horrible night after losing her match on Thursday.

“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 said.

“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.”

Blichfeldt is not the only player to complain about air pollution levels in Delhi. French mixed doubles pair of Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue had shared similar concerns.

“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,” Gicquel had said.

BAI defends poor conditions

The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has said that the late handover of the stadium resulted in unkept infrastructure.

“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,” BAI secretary Sanjay Mishra said in a statement on Saturday.

“We are already in discussions with the BWF to explore alternative venues and are actively evaluating the infrastructure options,” he added.

It will be interesting to see what steps BWF decides to take after players complaints against the Indian Open.