Kamal Ghorui
Indonesia coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, who works with two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu, had a close call after an explosion occurred near their location at Dubai International Airport as they were travelling to Birmingham for the All England Championships.Sindhu and Irwansyah were stranded at the airport after flight operations were suspended amid rising tensions in the Middle East. The tournament is set to start on Tuesday.
Explosions were reported in parts of the Gulf after Iran launched missiles in response to military action, including in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This led to the suspension of all flights at Dubai airport.“In Dubai at the moment, flights getting cancelled. There was an explosion in airport, so we are stuck here at the moment,” Irwansyah told news agency PTI.“They have put us in the hotel, we are okay but again there is a little bit of worry at the same time. We want to go to All England. I hope we can fly out today because Sindhu’s match is on Wednesday.”The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said it was monitoring travel issues linked to the situation in the Middle East along with Badminton England.“We remain in regular contact with teams and players whose journeys to Birmingham for the YONEX All England Open 2026 may be affected.The safety and wellbeing of all athletes, officials and support personnel remain our highest priority,” BWF said in a statement.“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.We will continue to share updates as the situation evolves and more information becomes available.”Sindhu shared her experience on social media on Sunday morning.“The ordeal continues to unfold, and the situation is becoming more frightening by the hour. A few hours ago, there was an explosion close to where we were holed up at the airport,” she wrote.“My coach had to quickly run out of the area as he was closest to the smoke and debris. It was an extremely tense and scary moment for all of us.”Most Indian players scheduled to compete in the tournament have already reached Birmingham. Men’s doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, men’s singles player Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty, and women’s doubles pair Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly are in the city.Malvika Bansod has also arrived, but Unnati Hooda remains in India after her direct flight from New Delhi to Birmingham was cancelled at short notice.“I was supposed to travel today around 11 but early morning came to know that the flight has been cancelled. Now seats are not available in connected flights. I am in touch with BAI and they are in conversation with BWF to maybe schedule my matches late,” Unnati said.Former India coach Vimal Kumar was also set to leave on Saturday but was informed of his cancellation shortly before boarding in Bengaluru.Doubles coach B Sumeeth Reddy will travel via Singapore along with mixed doubles pair Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani.“There are some players we are trying to send via Singapore, some have reached. Satwik and Chirag have reached, “Badminton Association of India secretary Sanjay Mishra said.The United States and Israel carried out strikes on Iran on Saturday. US President Donald Trump called on the Iranian public to remove its leadership.The strikes led to airspace closures across parts of the Gulf, affecting several international carriers including Emirates and Air India.Air India said it has cancelled all flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Muscat, Riyadh and Tel Aviv until further notice.Dubai International Airport has suspended operations indefinitely due to airspace restrictions following the missile strikes.
