[Saba Sports News] During the recently-concluded India Open Badminton Tournament, Hong Kong, China shuttler TSE Ying Suet was struck by sudden diarrhea, leaving her unable to prepare for and compete in her matches as scheduled. She subsequently turned to social media to appeal for help, stating that she had suffered a “gastrointestinal breakdown caused by contaminated water or food”.
In this incident, TSE Ying Suet’s suspected gastrointestinal issues triggered by unhygienic food or drinking water severely sapped her physical strength, ultimately taking a toll on her performance in the tournament. Her ordeal is far from an isolated case, as the tournament has been marred by a string of chaotic incidents. These include severe air pollution at the venue, wild monkeys invading the spectator stands, bird droppings littering the warm-up gym and the excessively low temperature inside it, among other problems. Players and coaches from multiple countries have voiced their complaints, and some athletes have even opted to withdraw from the competition. These issues have laid bare the multiple critical flaws of the tournament in terms of hygiene, environment and management.
As a test event for the upcoming World Badminton Championships, such chaotic conditions have raised widespread concerns over the organizers’ ability to prepare for the subsequent World Championships. From our perspective, if the Indian organizing committee and the Badminton World Federation (BWF) still fail to attach importance to rectifying these problems, it will not only continue to harm the players’ health and the tournament’s credibility, but also potentially jeopardize the smooth running of the upcoming World Championships. Only by adhering to the player-centric principle, addressing the shortcomings in support services and improving the governance system can badminton return to its competitive essence and prevent such embarrassing and crisis-ridden situations from recurring.