Mia Blichfeldt, the Danish badminton player, ranked 23rd in the world has strongly criticized the conditions of the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi during the India Open Super-750 Open competition. 

Blichfeldt, who was defeated in the women’s singles second round on Thursday, expressed her disappointment over the stadium conditions and pollution in Delhi. She felt that her preparation for the competition was devastated as she fell ill during the tournament for the second year in a row.

The player has written on Instagram, ‘Finally home after a long, stressful week in India. It is the second year I have fallen sick during the India Open. Weeks of preparation get wasted due to bad conditions. It is unfair to play in smog, with birds messing on the courts and dirt everywhere. These conditions are unhealthy and unacceptable.’ 

She tagged the Badminton World Federation in her post, highlighting her dissatisfaction despite winning her first round and competing well in the second.

Blichfeldt told BWF media earlier that she suffered from a stomach infection and vomited throughout Tuesday night. Despite this, she won her first-round match late Wednesday against Julie Jakobsen with scores of 21-9, 21-14. However, she struggled against Wang Zhi Yi of China on Thursday, ultimately losing after a tough 63-minute match.

Blichfeldt while speaking to The Indian Express, explained, “Tuesday night was terrible; I only managed to sleep by morning due to constant vomiting. I am exhausted and my body got drained.” 

Despite these challenges, she felt pleased about her previous match performance but wished she could have given her best. She concluded by expressing her frustration, saying, “It is disappointing when you have trained hard for tournaments, and something like this prevents you from performing at your best.”