Indonesia’s coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, who works with two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, received a close call after an explosion occurred near their site 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 amid rising tensions in the Middle East. The tournament is scheduled to start on Tuesday.
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There were reports of explosions in parts of the Gulf after Iran fired missiles in response to military action, including in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. This led to the suspension of all flights at Dubai Airport.“In Dubai at the moment, flights have been cancelled. 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 the hotel, we are fine but again there is a bit of anxiety at the same time. We want to go to the All England. I hope we can travel today because Sindhu’s match is on Wednesday.”The Badminton World Federation (BWF) said it is monitoring travel issues linked to the situation in the Middle East alongside England Badminton.“We remain in regular contact with teams and players whose travel 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 top priority,” the BWF said in a statement.“BWF is working with tournament organizers and national federations to assess travel conditions, while our operations teams are keeping a real-time monitor of the situation and are ready to assist delegations experiencing delays or rerouting.“This includes reviewing and preparing potential contingencies within the competition schedule in the event that any player experiences a delayed arrival.We will continue to share updates as the situation evolves and more information becomes available.”Sindhu shared her experience on social media on Sunday morning.She wrote, “The ordeal continues and the situation becomes more terrifying every hour. A few hours ago, an explosion occurred near where we were holed up at the airport.”“My coach had to quickly exit the area because he was closest to the smoke and debris.
“It was a very tense and scary moment for all of us.”Most of the Indian players scheduled to participate in the tournament have already arrived in Birmingham. In town are men’s doubles pair of Satwiksraj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, men’s singles players Lakshya Sen and Aayush Shetty, and women’s doubles players Gayatri Gopichand and Trissa Jolly.Malvika Bansode 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 fly today around 11 but early in the morning I learned that the flight has been cancelled. Now seats are not available on connecting flights. I am in contact with BAI and they are in conversation with BWF to possibly schedule my matches for late,” Onate said.Former India coach Vimal Kumar was also scheduled to leave on Saturday but was informed of his cancellation shortly before he boarded for Bengaluru.Doubles coach P Sumith Reddy will travel across Singapore with mixed doubles pair Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani.“There are some players we are trying to send through Singapore, and some have arrived. Satwik and Chirag have arrived,” Badminton Federation of India secretary Sanjay Mishra said.The United States and Israel carried out strikes on Iran on Saturday. US President Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to dismiss their leadership.The strikes led to the closure of airspace in parts of the Gulf, affecting several international airlines including Emirates and Air India.Air India said 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 suspended operations indefinitely due to airspace restrictions imposed after the missile strikes.