CHENNAI: Ace shuttler PV Sindhu, who has been stranded in Dubai since Saturday, is running out of time in terms of her participation in the All England Open in Birmingham, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. With the ongoing turmoil in West Asia and the closure of airspace at the said region, her chances of participation are growing bleak as the hours pass by. "Most probably, she will be forced to miss the All England. It's unfortunate," a BAI official said on Monday.
As per the women's singles draw, the double Olympic medallist is scheduled to open her campaign against Supanida Katethong of Thailand. The Badminton World Federation (BWF), in an official statement on Saturday, had said that they are closely monitoring the travel challenges the shuttlers are facing at this moment and they could potentially prepare contingency plans should the players.
"BWF is working with the tournament organisers and national associations to assess travel conditions, while our operations teams maintain real-time oversight of the situation and stand ready to assist delegations experiencing delays or route changes. This includes reviewing and preparing potential contingencies within the competition schedule should any players experience delayed arrival," the statement read.
Some of the big-hitters were part of the German Open (February 24 to March 1) and as such, they could travel to Birmingham. A BWF representative, when asked about the current status on Monday, said that some of the shuttlers were forced to reroute and they are currently doing the same. Despite Sindhu's woes and some of the shuttlers having to make last-minute travel changes, the representative said the current turmoil will have little impact on the tournament. However, the representative said that they'll get more clarity on Tuesday.
If Sindhu misses, Unnati Hooda, who left for Birmingham in the wee hours on Monday, and Malvika Bansod will be the Indian representatives in the women's singles category. It could be a big test for Unnati as she had taken a long flight via Africa after her original flight was cancelled. Lakshya Sen will be expected to lead the Indian charge in the men's singles department. However, he will be up against World No 1 Shi Yu Qi in Round 1. Ayush Shetty is the other men's Indian in the singles draw.
Doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will be the players to keep a close eye on. Though early days, the duo has struggled to hit the ground running this season and they'll be hoping to rise to the occasion and get some notable wins under their belt.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, Indian combination in the women's doubles category, have thrived at the Utilita Arena Birmingham in the past few seasons — the duo finished third in the 2022 and 2023 editions and reached the quarterfinals in 2025. They have also had a quiet start to the year and they'll be hoping to find their rhythm at the big stage.