Kidambi Srikanth defends India Open arrangements amid controversy: 'These things happen rarely'

Former world number one Kidambi Srikanth has said that the conditions at the India Open tournament are fine and issues are present even at the best of competitions. His statement comes after the BWF Super 750 tournament faced criticism over conditions when Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt complained about the cleanliness in the event.

For the second year in row Blichfeldt remained unimpressed with the arrangements for the tournament as she complained about the hygiene issues at the venue.

“I think it’s still very dirty and really unhealthy conditions for all the players,” she had said after her exit in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.

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Srikanth says backs India Open arrangements

Srikanth who defeated counterpart Tharun Mannepalli on Wednesday said that there was not much to complain regarding the conditions at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

“I frankly haven’t really read about what she (Mia) said. With my experience, I don’t really see… I think the conditions are fine. I don’t think any bad things are happening,” Srikanth said after his win.

“From my own experience, back in 2016-17, I had to wait for an hour in between my match in Denmark because the light went out. (HS) Prannoy was telling me he had to play one set on one day and the second set on the following day. These things do happen. It’s just that nobody does it purposely,” he added.

“Every country wants to host properly. All these things happen very rarely. I don’t know why everyone is complaining about all these,” he said.

Blichfeldt had also said that due to the cold winds coming into the arena, players were having problems in warming up. Srikanth also brushed aside concerns over the weather saying different places offer different conditions.

“I don’t know. Every country has its own conditions. If you go to Singapore, there will be a lot of drift. If you go to Malaysia, there will be less drift. Indonesia, they have renovated the stadiums, but earlier, it used to be compact and really fast,” Srikannth said.

“I am just very happy to be playing here again.”

After Blichfeldt’s comments, world number two Denmark’s Anders Antonsen's reasoning behind not participating in the tournament also attracted controversy towards the tournament. Antonsen said that he could not take part in the tournament because of the severe pollution levels in the Indian capital.