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Kidambi Srikanth defended the conditions of the India Open. (Express Photo)
With The India Open badminton tournament playing conditions coming under scrutiny from foreign players, India’s Kidambi Srikanth on Wednesday said that he does not understand the hue and cry. “I don’t know, see every country has its own conditions,” said Srikanth said.
“In Singapore, there is a lot of drift. In Malaysia, probably a little less. Earlier in Indonesia, it used to be very compact and fast before renovation. Every country has its own challenge.”
On Tuesday, Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt had criticised the conditions at the Indira Gandhi Stadium complex, calling the surroundings “unhealthy” and urging the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to intervene ahead of the World Championships later this year at the same venue.
VIDEO | Delhi: India's Kidambi Srikanth after his R32 win against Tharun Manipalli in the ongoing India Open 2026 Badminton Championship, said:
"The conditions are totally fine here, and I don't understand the hue and cry over it… I had to wait an hour in Denmark for my match… pic.twitter.com/etySu3bgYI
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 14, 2026
Asked specifically about Blichfeldt’s comments, Srikanth said he had not seen her remarks in detail but the conditions at the venue were acceptable based on his own experience. “See I frankly haven’t really read the note that she spoke. But I feel the conditions are fine. I didn’t really see anything bad that was happening,” he said.
He also recalled past disruptions on the international circuit. “In 2016 or 2017, I had to wait for about an hour in between my match in Denmark because the light went out. Prannoy was just telling me, he had to play his match the following day. He played one set first day and then the second set on the following day. So, these things do happen, just that nobody does it deliberately. Every country wants to do it really well. So, these things do happen very rarely, I don’t know why everyone’s complaining about it,” Srikanth said.
On Wednesday,, Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, current men’s singles world No 3, also pulled out of the Indian Open, sharing his reasons for opting out citing the pollution level in Delhi. “Many is (sic) curious to why I have pulled out of the India Open for the third consecutive year. Due to the extreme pollution in Delhi at the moment I don’t thinks it’s a place to host a badminton tournament,” Antonsen wrote on an Instagram story. The Dane had pulled out of India Open on January 4, even before the season-opening Malaysia Open, where he entered and lost in the semifinal against world No 1 Shi Yu Qi.
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