On Wednesday, the Badminton World Federation expressed satisfaction with the extensive renovation and cleaning carried out at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium ahead of the World Championships, stating that most of the shortcomings noticed after the Indian Open earlier this year have been addressed.
The venue had come under sharp criticism from players and officials regarding the poor hygiene, unclean restrooms, and the presence of pigeons and monkeys on the premises.
What exactly were the complaints at the BWF Indian Open Super 750?
Danish world No. 20 Mia Blichfeldt had spoken on the cleanliness of the courts.
“I actually hoped it was going to be better than the other hall. I think it’s still very dirty and really unhealthy conditions for all the players.”
Blichfeldt was clear that there were no real issues about the court conditions, but had reservations about the health conditions for players at the tournament this year.
Regarding the temperature control on courts, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon said that the players need “something like heaters” on courts so that their warm-ups aren’t affected.
“I felt kind of cold; it was hard to warm up in there,” Canadian player Michelle Li had said.
Apart from the complaints about the cleanliness and the temperature, during a match a monkey was spotted in the stands by photographer Azlynna Dewi, who was travelling to Delhi to cover the event, and posted multiple stories on her Instagram account of a monkey being seen in the stands at the main arena, while first-round matches were in progress on Wednesday.
Kang Minhyuk, a Korean doubles player, had also posted on social media about a monkey having entered a training session hall, “Are animals given free entry,” Kang asked.
There were complaints regarding bird excrement on the court. The second round match between HS Prannoy and Loh Kean Yew had to be stopped two times due to birds excreting on the court when the match was on.
Selvaamresh Supramaniam, BWF Events Director (Tournament Operations), stated that the world body had carried out several inspections over the last seven months and found significant improvements.
“We visited the stadium in January, February, April, June and then in the last couple of days. A lot of work has been done,” Supramaniam said. “Renovations to all the toilets, there’s been a lot of deep cleaning done, damaged seats have been replaced, a lot of sealing, wiring work has been done, broken ceilings have been replaced, and waterproofing was done on the roof.”
He said the venue was in far better shape than it was during the India Open, though cleaning would continue until the tournament begins on August 17.
“We are happy, but we still need to keep checking for the next few days on the cleaning that’s being done. Understandably, there’ll be a lot of workmen going in and out. And with rain, it is bound to get dirty. We just need to keep doing the cleaning.”
Speaking about the concerns over stray animals and birds, he said the situation had improved. Further, he added the Sports Authority of India (SAI) had also taken steps to make sure stray dogs wouldn’t be present on the premises.
“The last three days that I’ve been there, I’ve not seen any pigeons. I don’t know whether that’s because there are a lot of people or the gel is actually doing its job. I’ve not seen any monkeys as well.”
“From what I heard, they rounded up almost 60-odd dogs, and they were sent away. There are still some, but they are confident they’ll be able to round them up as well.”
Supramaniam also said efforts are being made to improve the presentation of the tournament, particularly the lighting, after it came in for criticism during the India Open. However, he stressed that the priority remained ensuring a smooth competition.
“The lighting, if you remember, during India Open was below expectations. We are working on it. BAI agreed to bring in consultants from Indonesia, who have worked on the Indonesia Open and Indonesia Masters.”
“Our main focus still is to deliver a tournament that’s free from any problems. Competition comes first. The rest is all show.”
