Nozomi Okuhara shares ordeal: Fleeced by cabbie in Delhi, four-hour wait for hotel room in Cuttack

Former World Champion and Olympic medallist Nozomi Okuhara has shared her allegedly nightmare experience on recent trip to India for tournaments. She was in India for the Odisha Open badminton Super 100 and narrated her ordeal that spanned from the Delhi airport, cab in Delhi to a four-hour-long wait in Cuttack for a hotel room. “The full story of harsh travel in India. I was prepared for it, but due to a series of problems, it was a physically and mentally demanding journey. I think I can survive somehow with the help of (PV) Sindhu and (HS) Prannoy! Well, it was the worst itinerary ever,” said the former World No 1 in a post on fansnet.jp. Okuhara had won the Super 300 in Lucknow, and was back in India after a week to play the Odisha Super 100. The Japanese shuttler is attempting to accumulate enough points to qualify for the Paris Olympics. But the experience was allegedly marred by harassment at the Delhi airport, private cabbies charging 10-time the Uber fare and this was for a brief stoppage in the capital. Her post (translated from Japanese) read: “I have bad memories at Indian airports in the past. When I got out of the airport, a stranger started putting my luggage onto the cart without permission. I got scared and stopped, but he said something along the lines of ‘I’ll take it to the entrance.’ Feeling uneasy, I continued to the entrance.” “During that time, a number of suspicious-looking taxi people approached me, but I kept ignoring them, thinking, ‘Absolutely not.’ However, I wanted to know where Uber was displayed, so I talked to a guy who seemed a little kind. He said, ‘Uber is not allowed inside, so you have to go outside.’ It was late at night and I had baggage. I was discussing with (sparring coach) Mr. Beppu, and the guy asked me, ‘How far are you going? You can take a taxi,’ he suggested.” Okuhara was travelling to Delhi via Hong Kong. Her plans included an overnight stay in Delhi at a hotel which which was 10 minutes from the airport. She was to then fly to Odisha for the tournament. Instead, she had to haggle for a cab from the airport while paying 4000 Yen (~ Rs 2200) in total. “I had no choice but to pay. Ah, I thought I had been fooled completely, but I was able to arrive safely at the hotel with my luggage, so I’m glad,” Okuhara wrote. Her troubles didn’t end just there. On arriving in Cuttack, there was no transportation despite a prior request. “Although we had requested to arrange transportation from the airport to the hotel, there has been no contact from the Indian side.” Upon reaching the hotel, she had to wait in the lobby for four hours as no rooms were available. Instead of helping, an Indian Association person came out of the hotel and said, ‘Nozomi, I’d like to take a photo.’ Shocked she said, “Wait a minute. We’re not alright right now, and we haven’t made a reservation and there’s no hotel to stay at. Can you do something about it?’ I asked for help.” Okuhara reached out to PV Sindhu and the Indian shuttler volunteered to help. Before she could, the Badminton Association of India would find Okuhara and her coach rooms at an alternate hotel. “Even though I was occupying the sofa in the lobby for four hours at that first hotel, I was really helped by the kindness of the hotel staff who even gave me water at the end without saying a word,” she wrote. With an attempt to get practicing the next day, she was told the shuttle would only arrive at 9 AM and not the 7 AM as requested. The Japanese shuttler spoke to Sindhu and HS Prannoy who then convinced the hotel staff to arrange a car for a week. “I’m relieved that I’ve managed to get to the point where I can play, and I’m planning to rest my tiredness a little bit today and tomorrow. India has a wide range, from random people to kind people, so even if you don’t want to doubt someone, you may end up doubting them, or you may feel like you’re being rude and a not-so-nice person. Even in such a situation, I am truly grateful to the manager and JTB who supported me until the end, the hotel staff and tournament staff who were kind to me, and Prannoy who contacted Sindhu this morning and confirmed the hotel transport,” the post read. This is not the first incident of shuttlers expressing disappointment over organisation across the last three weeks, which saw India hosting Syed Modi International in Lucknow, Guwahati Masters and Odisha Open.

Imagine showering and brushing your teeth with this water here in India!!! pic.twitter.com/xyHoPLjT0N

— Soong Joo Ven (@soongjooven) December 7, 2023

Malaysian Soong Joo Ven had taken to ‘X’ On December 7, posting a video of muddy brown water coming from a tap in his hotel in Guwahati, while Jessica Tan of Singapore had shared pictures of pigeon poop on the match courts in Lucknow. Okuhara didn’t email us about her logistics: BAI general secretary BAI secretary general Sanjay Mishra said the Japanese shuttler didn’t send any e-mail informing the logistical details. “I understand what Okuhara must have been through but the fact is we didn’t receive any email regarding accommodation or transportation from her end. It is a technical issue and a matter of miscommunication. We had no information,” Mishra told news agency PTI. Terming it as an unfortunate incident, Mishra promised that nothing of this sort will happen in future. “It is unfortunate but the moment I came to know about it I spoke to the organisers and provided all help. She is a big player and our guest and we will ensure nothing of this sort happens in future.” On his part, Mishra also said that such an incident wouldn’t have occurred in first place if it was an entire contingent travelling because the manager of the squad then takes care of the logistical details. “If it is an entire team then the team manager contacts the organising committee and things are arranged immediately but she was alone and she didn’t contact, so organisers didn’t know when she was arriving. It didn’t happen on purpose, it happened by mistake,” Mishra said. “After arriving in Delhi, she (Okuhara) could have just called someone like an organising secretary or competition manager. It happens sometimes when we travel overseas for an event and there is no one to receive. Nevertheless, it won’t happen again.” Organising secretary Nileen Kumar, who is also a BAI executive council member, said she had met Okuhara at the hotel. “I saw her sitting there in the hotel lobby. BAI joint secretary Prabhakar Rao was also there and we offered our help. “Players have to send requests for accommodation in a BWF form but we didn’t receive any such communication from her. It is the same for everyone. Since there was no request, there was no room booked for her. Other players, who came from 30 other countries didn’t face any such problem,” Kumar said. Nileen Kumar reasoned that Okuhara is only entitled to a shuttle bus pick-up if she is staying in the official team hotel, where she didn’t have a booking, having not filled up the form. “If you stay in the official hotel, then only you get a shuttle bus it is not possible for the organiser to get players from other hotels across the city,” Kumar said.