Badminton world number 23 Mia Blichfeldt of Denmark strongly criticized the conditions in Delhi and Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium during the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament. Blichfeldt, who lost in the second round of the women’s singles on Thursday, expressed disappointment over the stadium conditions and pollution in Delhi. Blichfeldt felt that this ruined all her preparation as she fell ill during the tournament for the second year in a row.
“Finally home after a long and stressful week in India,” Blichfelt wrote on Instagram. This is the second consecutive year that I have fallen ill during the India Open. It is really difficult to accept that many weeks of hard work and preparation go waste due to bad circumstances. It’s not fair to anyone that we had to practice and play in fog, dirt thrown by birds on the court, and dirt everywhere.
Also tagging the World Badminton Federation, the Danish player wrote that such conditions are harmful to health and unacceptable. I am happy that I was successful in winning the first round and I played well in the second round too but I am not satisfied with the way the situation was.
Blichfeldt previously told BWF media that she was suffering from a stomach infection and had been vomiting heavily on Tuesday night. Despite this, she won her first round match against Julie Jacobsen with a score of 21–9, 21–14. However, she had to struggle against China’s Wang Ji Yi on Thursday and ultimately lost after a tough 63-minute match.