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Badminton Association of India (BAI) general secretary Sanjay Mishra responded to the ordeal faced by former World No. 1 Nozomi Okuhara upon her arrival to India for the Odisha Masters 2023.
Just a week after winning the Syed Modi International Super 300 event in Lucknow, World No. 29 Okuhara returned to India to play a Super 100 event in a bid to improve her ranking with an eye on Paris Olympics qualification. However, her experience wasn't a pleasant one, with the 29-year-old enduring a series of challenges to reach Odisha.
Highlighting the troubles on the FansNet.jp platform, Nozomi Okuhara mentioned how she was exorbitantly charged for a cab ride from Delhi airport to her hotel, waited for four hours in a hotel lobby in Cuttack for booking issues and lacked transportation facilities for an early morning practice session.
Mishra responded to the shuttler's complaints by saying that Nozomi Okuhara did not send any email to the national federation for logistical details. He, however, guaranteed that such incidents would not occur in the future. Speaking to news agency PTI, the BAI general secretary said:
"I understand what Okuhara must have been through but the fact is we didn’t receive any email regarding accommodation or transportation from her end. It is a technical issue and a matter of miscommunication. We had no information."
He added:
"It is unfortunate but the moment I came to know about it I spoke to the organisers and provided all help. She is a big player and our guest and we will ensure nothing of this sort happens in future.”
Why wasn't Nozomi Okuhara facilitated with accommodation and transport by BAI?
The shuttle bus is usually a transport for the participants of a tournament to travel to and fro from the hotel to the venue for practice. This service is only for the players who reside in the official hotel allotted by the organizers.
Nozomi Okuhara received help from senior Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy for her accommodation and transport arrangements in Cuttack.
Furthermore, Nileen Kumar, the organizing secretary and a member of the BAI executive council, explained why Okhuhara wasn't officially allocated a hotel room. She said:
"Players have to send requests for accommodation in a BWF form but we didn’t receive any such communication from her. It is the same for everyone. Since there was no request, there was no room booked for her. Other players, who came from 30 other countries didn’t face any such problem."
Nozomi Okuhara defeated USA's Ishika Jaiswal in the Round of 32 of the Odisha Masters in straight sets 21-14, 21-15.
