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India Open locked in winter window despite criticism
BWF's Thomas Lund seeks player support amid scheduling challenges for India Open during winter pollution, stressing the event's importance despite health risks.
New Delhi: Badminton World Federation (BWF) secretary general Thomas Lund has appealed for understanding and support from players as the governing body continues to grapple with the scheduling of India Open amidst the national capital’s notorious winter pollution.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Championships, Lund acknowledged the logistical headaches of hosting the Super 750 event during the capital’s peak pollution period. While the BWF has attempted to push the tournament slightly later into the year to mitigate health risks, Lund admitted that a complete overhaul of the calendar remains a complex challenge.
“There’s obviously a lot of logistical things when you do these things. For now, it hasn’t been possible to totally move out of the first quarter,” Lund said on Thursday.
Deep Dive
“It is documented that pollution will go down a little bit further into January, February... Right now it hasn’t been possible due to domestic, local (commitments) to actually move it totally around in the calendar.”
India Open has been scheduled from February 2-7 next year while the Super 750 event will be held from January 25-30 in 2028. Prominent shuttlers have criticised the BWF for scheduling the India Open in New Delhi during winter, citing severe air pollution and cold conditions.
Danish star Anders Antonsen has been the most vocal critic, opting to pay BWF fines to skip the tournament rather than play through January’s hazardous smog, and has publicly urged organisers to shift the event to a different season.
Compatriot Mia Blichfeldt, Canadian Michelle Li and Thai Ratchanok Intanon have been critical of the cold conditions in the past, adding that the conditions force athletes to warm up in winter coats and gloves, making match preparation difficult.
The BWF has implemented some structural calendar changes, including starting the overall World Tour slightly later in January to give players a longer off-season recovery period. However, Lund recognises this may not satisfy all critics.
“Some players may not feel it’s enough, but we just obviously hope for the players’ understanding that we live in a world where everything cannot just be set up,” added Lund.
“We hope for their continuous support because obviously this is a super important tournament, a super important market... we continue to present here in India at the very highest level.”
The determination to keep India prominent on the BWF calendar stems from the country’s massive market potential and its growing pedigree on the court. Buoyed by recent team triumphs like the 2022 Thomas Cup title and a consistent pipeline of individual stars, India has become a central pillar of the sport’s global strategy.
“India is probably, if not the fastest-growing badminton market, with maybe one of the biggest populations in the world. We have a slight distance to the cricket religion that you have in this country. But we’re getting there, and that’s our objective,” added Lund.
Defending 3x15 system
Lund also defended the BWF’s decision to transition to a 3x15 point scoring system, describing the move as a necessary “evolution” to manage the increasing physical load caused by the deepening talent pool in world badminton.
“Actually, it’s full-on from Round 1, even for the best players. So, that means the physical component of the pressure, the load on the players becomes bigger and bigger. We’re now just tweaking the point system where the load on players will come down so we actually safeguard the players and their health in a better way,” explained Lund.
The Dane, who won the mixed doubles gold twice at the World Championships in 1993 and 1995, dismissed concerns that the format would dramatically alter the sport’s hierarchy, pointing to statistical simulations indicating that the best players will adapt rapidly and continue to dominate, potentially with the added benefit of closer matches.
Feather to plastic
The 58-year-old, who has been secretary general of the BWF since 2009, also addressed concerns over the rising cost and supply chain volatility of traditional feather shuttlecocks. While elite tournaments face no shortage, the BWF is actively working with equipment manufacturers to develop high-quality synthetic alternatives to protect the grassroots level of the sport.
“Our mission in life is to make our sport as accessible as possible. We are very supportive of helping the manufacturers get to a place where we have both natural feather, but also a synthetic feather option in the market,” concluded Lund.
