Indonesia coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, who works with two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, had a close call after an explosion occurred near their venue at Dubai International Airport as they traveled to Birmingham for the All England Championships.Sindhu and Irwansyah were stranded at the airport after flight operations were suspended due to rising tensions in the Middle East. The tournament is scheduled to start on Tuesday.
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Explosions were reported in parts of the Persian Gulf after Iran fired missiles in response to military action, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This led to the suspension of all flights at Dubai Airport.“Flights are canceled in Dubai at the moment. There was an explosion at the airport, so we are stuck here at the moment,” Irwansyah told news agency PTI.“They have put us in a hotel, we are fine, but at the same time there is a bit of worry. We want to go to All England. I hope we will fly out today because Sindhu’s match is on Wednesday.”The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said it was monitoring travel issues linked to the situation in the Middle East along with badminton in England.“We remain in regular contact with teams and players whose journeys to Birmingham for the YONEX All England Open 2026 may be affected.The safety and well-being of all athletes, officials and support staff remains our highest priority,” the BWF said in a statement.“The BWF is working with tournament organizers and national associations to assess travel conditions, while our operations teams maintain real-time monitoring of the situation and are ready to assist delegations experiencing delays or route changes.“This includes reviewing and preparing for potential contingencies within the competition schedule should any player be late.We will continue to share updates as the situation develops and more information becomes available.”Sindhu shared her experience on social media on Sunday morning.“The suffering continues and the situation is getting more terrifying every hour. A few hours ago there was an explosion near where we were sheltered at the airport,” she wrote.“My coach had to flee the area quickly as he was closest to the smoke and debris. It was an extremely tense and scary moment for all of us.”Most of the Indian players scheduled for the tournament have already arrived in Birmingham. Men’s doubles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, men’s singles Lakshya Sen, Ayush Shetty and women’s doubles Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly are in the city.Malvika Bansod has also arrived but Unnati Hooda remains in India after her direct flight from New Delhi to Birmingham was canceled at short notice.“I was supposed to travel today around 11 but early morning I got to know that the flight was cancelled. Now there are no seats available on the connecting flights. I am in touch with BAI and they are in conversation with BWF to possibly schedule my matches late,” said Unnati.Former India coach Vimal Kumar was also scheduled to depart on Saturday but was informed of his cancellation shortly before boarding in Bengaluru.B doubles coach Sumeeth Reddy will travel across Singapore along with mixed doubles pair Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani.“There are some players we are trying to send through Singapore, some have achieved. Satwik and Chirag have achieved,” Badminton Association of India secretary Sanjay Mishra said.The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday. US President Donald Trump has called on the Iranian public to remove its leadership.The strikes led to the closure of airspace in parts of the Persian Gulf, affecting several international carriers including Emirates and Air India.Air India has announced that it has canceled all flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Muscat, Riyadh and Tel Aviv until further notice.Dubai International Airport has suspended operations indefinitely due to airspace restrictions following the missile strikes.
