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‘It was stressful, no tickets were available…’: PV Sindhu back home after Dubai ordeal

Sanjeev Kumar | March 4, 2026 9:22 AM CST

Bengaluru: Within 15 minutes of PV Sindhu landing in Dubai on February 28, en route London to take part in the All England, the Indian badminton player and her team were told that the airspace was shut down due to the ongoing conflict between USA-Israel and Iran in West Asia.

Stranded in a transit hotel for more than two days, the two-time Olympic medallist finally boarded a return flight back to India and landed in Bengaluru on Tuesday. "It was stressful for sure. I landed a few hours after the other Indian players had taken off from Dubai to London," said the 30-year-old shuttler. "I was trying to somehow reach London till the last moment. We checked flights from Oman too, and considered options of coming back to India and take the longer route from Hyderabad or Bengaluru. But no tickets were available. Of course, I'm sad that I missed out on such a prestigious event but safety comes first and the situation is beyond our control."

Sindhu also clarified that the Badminton World Federation have decided to waive off the fine of US $5000 which is levied on a top player for skipping a mandatory Super 1000/750 after qualifying. "They (BWF) understand the circumstances I was in and waived off the penalty. And regarding the ranking, I'm in touch with BWF and they said they will take a day to discuss the matter. There were some Japan players who were in the Dubai airport too but got out in time. I was the only player who got stuck," said Sindhu.

With All England missed, the next event on the BWF World Tour is the Swiss Open beginning March 10. Sindhu added that she is uncertain about her participation for that event too, owing to ongoing conflict.