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New Delhi: Indian badminton star PV Sindhu was back home on Tuesday after being stranded in Dubai amid the conflict between the USA, Israel and Iran. She was scheduled to begin her campaign in the All England Open but was forced to pull out of the prestigious tournament.

In a media interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sindhu said that there was a lot of stress and it was scary. She further added that the situation was very stressful and hoped that it was her first and last experience.

“I think the only thing maybe was to stay calm. I know that’s not the ideal situation where you say we are calm, but we’re not inside. But I think it is an experience, I must say. And I hope it’s the first and the last experience like this way. But yeah, I think we were calm, the whole team was calm,” Sindhu said.

‘Tried every possible way but there were no flights’: Sindhu on missing All England Open

She was slated to face Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in the opening round but was forced to withdraw from the tournament. Sindhu said that she explored every way to travel to the UK to participate in the prestigious tournament.

“I tried every possible way but there were no flights. And (if I had even taken circuitous route), maybe I would reach on Thursday, so you can’t do anything. I got a call from Emirates last evening that there are flights to India. I was sad that I couldn’t play the tournament. But my safety was very important. My life was very important. So, it’s okay now,” she added.

Sindhu said that she and her coach landed at Dubai airport on February 28 at 1 pm, and in just 15 minutes, they were told that all flights were suspended. She further added that after waiting for a few hours, they were taken to a transit hotel, and the whole process took a lot of time as there was a lot of chaos at the airport.

“We got a call from the coach saying there was a big sound. I don’t know if it was explosion or debris or drone. There was lot smoke and people ran out. So it was terrifying when we heard that big sound all of a sudden like 100m away. It is scary.” Sindhu said.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has waived the USD 5,000 penalty on Sindhu for pulling out of the 2026 All England Open, considering the extraordinary circumstances.