World number 3 Anders Antonsen fined $5,000 for skipping India Open due to ‘extreme’ Delhi air | Badminton News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: A day after Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt criticized the unhealthy conditions at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, the venue for the ongoing India Open Super 750, another Danish badminton player Anders Antonsen revealed that he withdrew from the tournament for the third year in a row due to what he described as ‘extreme’ air pollution in Delhi. The world number 3 posted on Instagram: “Many are curious as to why I have withdrawn from the India Open for the third year.Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Due to the extreme pollution in Delhi at the moment, I don’t think it is a place to organize a badminton tournament.”The four-time World Championships medalist posted a screenshot of Delhi’s air quality index, which showed a staggering 348 as dangerous.

However, Anders Antonsen’s decision to withdraw has earned him a $5,000 fine from the Badminton World Federation (BWF).The India Open will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium this year after the Badminton Association of India (BAI) shifted the tournament from the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium, also in Delhi.The Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium will also host the BWF World Championships in August, making the India Open a designated Test event.Antonsen, however, remained unconvinced. “I’m crossing my fingers that things will be better in the summer when the World Championships are in Delhi,” he posted, before emphatically adding: “As a result, BWF has again fined me $5,000.”Monkey spotted in IGI standsOn Wednesday, a monkey was spotted in one of the spectator galleries at the India Open here, PTI reported.The monkey attracted a lot of attention from fans in the stadium and on social media. However, it did not disrupt any matches or training. South Korean men’s doubles player Kang Min Hyuk uploaded a video showing a monkey at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, the tournament’s designated training venue.