Japanese shuttler's harrowing ordeal in India sparks outrage

Former world champion and Olympic medallist shuttler Nozomi Okuhara's harrowing experience upon landing in India was "unfortunate and won't happen in the future," said an embarrassed Badminton Association of India (BAI) general secretary Sanjay Mishra on Wednesday.

However, in defense of the local organizing committee, the all-powerful BAI secretary-general mentioned that the ace Japanese shuttler didn't send any email informing the logistical details (local travel and accommodation), which could have ensured proper arrangements prior to her arrival.

"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," Mishra told PTI.

The 28-year-old Okuhara took to the social media platform fansnet.jp to narrate her ordeal after being harassed and duped by cab drivers at Delhi airport and not getting any official transportation after arriving in Cuttack on Monday to play the Odisha Open. She also had to wait for four hours to check in at the hotel and wasn't provided with a shuttle bus/car for her scheduled 8 am practice session.

Terming it an unfortunate incident, Mishra promised that nothing of this sort will happen in the future.

"It is unfortunate, but the moment I came to know about it, I spoke to the organizers and provided all help. She is a big player and our guest, and we will ensure nothing of this sort happens in the future."

A former world No. 1, Okuhara, who claimed the Syed Modi International Super 300 title in Lucknow and skipped the Guwahati event next week, had arrived in New Delhi via Hong Kong on Sunday night. Her ordeal started then, as a stranger put her luggage on a trolley at the Delhi airport, and she was duped by a private taxi driver, paying 10 times more than what an Uber would have cost her to reach a nearby hotel from the airport for an overnight stay.

Arrangements are done for the team and not individual
On his part, Mishra also said that such an incident wouldn't have occurred in the first place if it was an entire contingent traveling because the manager of the squad then takes care of the logistical details.

"If it is an entire team, then the team manager contacts the organizing committee, and things are arranged immediately. But she was alone, and she didn't contact, so organizers didn't know when she was arriving. It didn't happen on purpose; it happened by mistake," Mishra said.

"After arriving in Delhi, she (Okuhara) could have just called someone like an organizing secretary or competition manager. It happens sometimes when we travel overseas for an event, and there is no one to receive. Nevertheless, it won't happen again."

Organizing secretary Nileen Kumar, who is also a BAI executive council member, said she had met Okuhara at the hotel but was a bit brazen in his attempt to justify what they think is an unintentional mistake.

"I saw her sitting there in the hotel lobby. BAI joint secretary Prabhakar Rao was also there, and we offered our help. 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," Kumar said.

You don't get a shuttle bus if you don't stay in the official hotel
It was Okuhara's Indian friends, famed shuttlers HS Prannoy and PV Sindhu, who spoke to local members and organized her accommodation. Prannoy, a world medallist himself, also arranged a car that would take her to training as she wasn't provided with a shuttle bus allocated for players.

Kumar, the BAI EC member, reasoned that Okuhara is only entitled to a shuttle bus pick-up if she is staying in the official team hotel, where she didn't have a booking, having not filled up the form.

"If you stay in the official hotel, then only you get a shuttle bus; it is not possible for the organizer to get players from other hotels across the city," Kumar said.

This is not the first incident as other international shuttlers have also complained about various things over the last three weeks, which saw India hosting Syed Modi International in Lucknow, Guwahati Masters, and Odisha Open. Malaysian Soong Joo Ven had taken to 'X' On December 7, posting a video of muddy brown water coming from a tap in his hotel in Guwahati, while Jessica Tan of Singapore had shared pictures of pigeon poop on the match courts in Lucknow.