Media365
New Delhi: Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) secretary general Thomas Lund has effectively closed the door on any major rescheduling of the India Open beyond the first quarter in 2027, saying the calendar window is too tight for a wholesale change despite persistent concerns over Delhi’s winter air pollution.The Super 750 event has been moved from Jan to Feb next year, with the 2027 edition scheduled from Feb 2-7 at the Indira Gandhi (IG) indoor stadium. The change, however, is not permanent, with the tournament slated to return to its original Jan window from Jan 25-30 in 2028.“There’s obviously a lot of logistical things that go into these things and we’ve been in dialogue about the whole calendar. But coming into 2027, it’s quite a short time from now to then and it hasn’t been possible to totally move it out of the first quarter,” Lund told a select media group on the sidelines of the ongoing BWF World Championships here on Thursday.The issue gained traction after Danish world No. 4 Anders Antonsen skipped the tournament for the third straight year in 2026, accepting a $5,000 fine rather than play in Jan. “In Jan and Feb, the pollution here is quite insane,” Antonsen recently said, adding, “Imagine having your pulse high and trying to fight for air.”Lund acknowledged the pollution data, noting that it “will go down a little bit further into Jan and into Feb”, while stressing domestic scheduling constraints. “Right now, it hasn’t been possible due to the domestic calendar here as well, but it is something we are looking at and hope to do further down in time”.He said BWF has shifted the start of the tour later into Jan as a player-health safeguard, giving athletes recovery after World Tour Finals season. “Some players may feel it’s not enough but we hope players understand that everything cannot be set up. We need players’ support.”Lund also praised the revamped IG sports complex, saying he was “super impressed” by the work completed in a short period. He said players’ feedback too had been positive.No fixed deadline for implementation of synthetic shuttlecocksOn the BWF’s move to synthetic shuttlecocks, the secretary general said synthetic trials were progressing but there was “no fixed deadline” for a full implementation on the tour. The BWF has run its synthetic feather shuttlecock trials at four international tournaments over the past two months and the product is now “getting quite close” to the required standards, Lund said. He also ruled out introducing prize money for the Worlds, saying “the broadcast remains a commercial priority for now”.
