Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth dismisses concerns over playing conditions at India Open 2026

New Delhi [India], January 14 (ANI): Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Wednesday dismissed concerns raised by Danish badminton player Mia Blichfeldt over playing conditions at the India Open 2026, which is being held at Delhi's Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
Mia Blichfeldt, while speaking to the media, had criticised the playing conditions at the venue after her match on Tuesday at the India Open 2026.
Kidambi stated that every country faces some challenges one way or another, recalling an experience in Denmark where the Indian shuttler had to wait for his match for an hour after the lights went out.
"Every country has its own conditions. If you go to countries like Singapore, there will be a lot of drift. And then you go to Malaysia, probably a little less. And in other countries, like Indonesia, they've renovated the stadium, but earlier it used to be really compact. So every country has its own challenge. And yeah, I am just very happy to be playing here again," Kidambi told the reporters.
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"With my experience, I feel the conditions are fine. And with my own experience, I think back in 2016-17, I had to wait for about an hour in between my match in Denmark because the lights went out. Every country wants to do it really well, but these things sometimes happen. I don't know why everyone is complaining about it," he added.
Coming to the India Open match between Kidambi and Tharun Mannepalli on Wednesday, the former defeated his compatriot by 2-1. After the match, Kidambi said it was a tough game, with the shuttler trailing 19-17 in the third, but he was happy with how things went afterwards, as he won the third 21-19.
"It was a tough game for me. One or two points here and there would have made a big difference. I was down 19-17 in the third game. Just happy how it went after that...," he said. (ANI)