Top Indian shuttler angered by umpire’s decision at Denmark Open

What’s the story?

Sikki Reddy, who is a part of India’s No. 1 mixed doubles and women’s doubles teams, has lashed out at poor umpiring in her first round mixed doubles loss at the $750, 000 Danisa Denmark Open Superseries Premier in Odense, Denmark on Tuesday. The World No. 17 pair of Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra suffered a shock 17-21, 15-21 defeat at the hands of the 27th ranked Irish duo of Sam Magee and Chloe Magee in a 30-minute contest.

Later on, Reddy took to Twitter to voice her displeasure and alleged that the match was played by the umpires which made them mentally down.

Today's match has been played by the service umpire and the chair umpire... well done guys ??? #DenmarkOpen they just made me mentally down

— sikkireddy (@sikkireddy) October 17, 2017

In case you didn’t know

There were a lot of expectations from Reddy and Chopra after their semi-final appearance at last month’s Japan Open Superseries where they were the best performing Indians.

It was the first Superseries semi-final for the ever-improving duo. It was also the third time that any Indian mixed doubles pair made it that far at any tournament with the category of a Superseries event or above.

The heart of the matter

An irate Sikki made further comments that highlight where change is desperately needed in the BWF system. She called for a review system in services which will benefit all players.

At the same time, the India No. 1 refused to blame it as the cause of her loss. She acknowledged she was not up to the mark and admitted that her net control and defence were not great.

Anyway we were also not up to the mark today,especially I would say ME.My net was not in control, defence was not great.

— sikkireddy (@sikkireddy) October 17, 2017

Some of Sikki Reddy's fans also got together on Twitter, to console her after the loss, and tried to motivate her to not get disheartened by this, and keep playing on.

A great way of taking the defeat, don't let this affect you in WD & we want our top XD to do well in french #Believe #Achieve #TeamIndia

— india_badminton (@india_badminton) October 17, 2017

There's a lesson in that too. Never get bogged down by external stimuli. Toughen up.

— Sudarshan (@SuperSud9) October 17, 2017

Never mind a loss as far as you are learning something from it.All the best for wd tomorrow. Win it. :)

— Sudarshan (@SuperSud9) October 17, 2017

Don't worry man. Let them hv fun a little..Apki taraf se diwali gift unko,,,,,,,

— Abhi singh (@Mindfreak_abhi) October 18, 2017

What’s next?

Reddy will next be in contention in the women’s doubles section of the Denmark Open. She and veteran Ashwini Ponnappa take on the Malaysian team of Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean, who are ranked just one place above the Indians at 22nd.

Author’s take

Currently, there is a review system only for the line calls that was implemented in 2013. But from Sikki’s rant, it is clear that it is not enough.

After sweating day in and day out, no player would like to get robbed of even a single point in a match due to the umpire’s errors. The world body should make it a priority to listen to player’s demands more and make attempts to introduce the necessary changes.