Danish badminton star slams substandard conditions at Indian Open 2025

Mia Blichfeldt, Danish badminton player has criticised the conditions at the ongoing Indian Open 2025 Super 750 tournament being played at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. Blichfeldt has expressed her discontent with the playing conditions and the increasing pollution levels in the national capital.

The 27-year-old player has called the situation ‘unfair’ for all the players participating in the tournament. The world no. 23 had picked up a stomach infection but managed to fight through the second round before losing 21-13 16-21 8-21 to China’s Wang Zhi Yi.

Mia took to her Instagram account where she said, “It’s two years in a row that I get sick during the Indian Open. It’s really hard to accept that many weeks of work and preparing gets wasted becuase of bad conditions. It’s not fair to anyone that we have to train and play in smog, birds shitting on the court and dirt everywhere. These conditions are too unhealthy and unacceptable.”

See the Instagram post here:

 “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.

The Dane said she was proud of staying the course despite her condition, as she took the fight to the Chinese.

“Today I felt I dug deep and I did everything I could. I had to adjust my game and I’m actually playing good when I’m not playing high speed all the time. Now I’m looking forward to going back to France and working for the European tour in February and March.”

Meanwhile, Sanjay Mishra, Secretary, Badminton Association of India in a statement said, “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.”

(With inputs from agencies)