The Badminton World Federation (BWF) acknowledged what the Badminton Association of India (BAI) had been unable to do in the first three days of the India Open 2026.
The world body, in a statement released at the end of Day 3 of the competition, said that the venue, Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, was facing challenges, but hoped that they would be dealt with greatly ahead of the BWF World Championship.
Problem areas highlighted by BWF
“Some areas of implementation, including general cleanliness and hygiene, plus animal control, may have required attention,” BWF said in their press release.
The problem first came to the surface after Denmark’s women’s singles player Mia Blechfledt revealed that pigeons were cited in the training facility provided to the players.
The issue was aggravated after world number three men’s singles player AndeAntonsenesn said that the reason he skipped the India Open was due to the high air pollution in New Delhi.
While BAI attempted to do damage control through comments made by former world number one Kidambi Srikanth and its General Secretary, it felt more like shooting the messenger.
With a bird dropping falling on Centre Court during a round of 16 clash, the final nail in the India Open 2026 organizational mess was put. But there was more to come as former world champion Loh Kean Yew said that playing in Delhi meant that the energy level of the players dropped two levels due to the pollution.
Former world champion complains
“Everyone’s stamina just dropped like two levels. The weather is not good. My health dropped quite a bit. I breathe less. I wear my mask when I can. I stay indoors as much as possible, but that’s the only thing that I can do,’’ said the Singaporean.
Only after all that had happened did the BWF put out the statement. They gave BAI life support by saying that the World Championships will indeed be held in India and hoped for improved conditions then.
“Insights gathered this week will guide further upgrades to deliver a world-class experience in August, where the seasonal issues are not expected to be as severe,” the BWF said.