P V Sindhu has now returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham.
New Delhi: Two-time Olympic medal-winning Indian badminton star P V Sindhuconfessed on Tuesday that she struggled to remain calm during the three-day ordeal in Dubai, wishing it to be the first and last such experience in her life.
Sindhu was stranded in Dubai due to closure of airspace in the Gulf region following the US and Israeli bombing of Iran and the subsequent retaliation by Tehran.
She has now returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham. She was to travel to Birmingham via Dubai but could not do so due to travel disruptions.
“Obviously, there was a lot of stress. And it was scary. 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,” Sindhu said during a media interaction facilitated by Sports Authority of India (SAI).
“Actually, it is very stressful. 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 and her team, including Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, had a narrow escape after an explosion near the Dubai airport. She was scheduled to face Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in the opening round but was forced to pull out of the tournament.
She said she explored every option to travel to the UK to take part in the prestigious tournament, including going to Oman by road or to India and take a circuitous route to reach Birmingham.
“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.”
“It is a bit sad that I couldn’t play. But again it’s important to be safe.” Sindhu expressed her gratitude to civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Raksha Khadse, who serves as the minister of state (MoS) for youth affairs and sports, and the Indian consular general in Dubai for helping her return to the country safely.
