Olympic
Indian Open badminton puts India's Olympic bid on the backfoot
Despite it being the second year in succession of hosting the tournament it did not improve the unhealthy conditions on the court
18 Jan, 2026
By Rupinder Singh
New Delhi: At a recent presentation by the Gujarat sports minister and Indian Olympic Association President in Lausanne for hosting the Olympics in Ahmedabad in 2036, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) pointed out three areas where India needed to improve before bidding for the Olympics.
The first was the governance of sports, which it said needed improvement. Second, there was a need to improve disastrous doping record, and third, there was a need to improve Olympics performance which was at an average of only six medals.
The first major international tournament when India was tested was the ongoing Indian Open 750 Badminton Tournament at the Indira Gandhi Indoor (IGI) Stadium in Delhi and it failed on most of the points listed by the International Olympic Committee.
Despite it being the second year in succession of hosting the tournament it did not improve the unhealthy conditions on the court. The first day they got away by saying only one international player objected but then the dropping of poop happened during a match seen on TV by spectators all over the world and the badminton federation was forced to accept their failure.
As the tournament unfolded the reputation of our so-called top stars was dismantled one by one. The first to fall was India's pride PV Sindhu to a Vietnamese player in the early rounds. Srikanth Prannoy and Lakshay Sen to their credit lost after good fights but none the less we have no Indians reaching the semi-finals.
The other plus must be the younger players like Tanvi Sharma, Ayush Shetty, Malvika Bansod putting up good shows in their matches.
Thankfully on the point of doping, our badminton stars have not tested positive as yet. Overall, India would probably get a C grade for this tournament from an independent assessment. Once again, it is time to wake up for India and make the most of the opportunities provided.
(The author is a senior sports management expert)
Tags : Indian Open, badminton, Olympics, Ahmedabad, IGI Stadium