Chennai WTA final postponed because of pollution, ‘they still wanted us to go ahead’

The Chennai Open singles final between top seed Janice Tjen and Magda Linette was postponed to Monday morning after smog from Diwali fireworks engulfed the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Sunday evening. Both players had pointed to the bad air quality and left the court without playing.

Tjen, the defending champion, was seeking to become the first repeat winner in Chennai, while Linette, a two-time finalist here, was bidding for her first title in more than two years.

Tjen’s Instagram post said it all. It was a repost of her coach Chris Bint’s, a visual capturing the smog in Chennai, with the AQI reading an alarming 1556. The caption from Bint read: “And they still wanted the match to go ahead.”

In its official statement, the Chennai Open organisers said fireworks smoke had prevented the final, scheduled for 6.30 PM on Sunday, from being played. “The skies opened soon after the conclusion of the doubles final, and heavy smoke later engulfed the SDAT Tennis Stadium due to Diwali fireworks, preventing the singles championship match from getting underway,” the statement said.

Naima Karamoko and Simona Waltert had won the doubles title, beating Vaishnavi Adkar and Rutuja Bhosale 6-2, 6-0, when the rain came and first delayed the singles final, with organisers announcing a 9 PM start. Very soon, the final was postponed to 11 AM Monday, the tournament’s reserve day.

It is understood that from the moment the players arrived at the SDAT Stadium, it was evident the conditions were not in favour of play. The thick smog had led to poor visibility across the city, with many commuters posting videos. At one point, Chennai even topped the live global pollution rankings on AQI.in.

Both finalists had their reservations about the match going ahead as scheduled. They had a brief discussion with tournament supervisor Sheetal Iyer before packing their bags and leaving the court.

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It is learnt that the organisers did push for the event to go ahead as planned, but as the situation worsened, they were left with no choice but to postpone. Even the broadcasters raised concerns about the visibility at the venue and, after long discussions, the final was called off on Sunday.

And even before the final, there were apprehensions as to how the title clash could go ahead amidst the fireworks noise in the backdrop. Tjen, at the conclusion of the semi-final, had admitted that playing amidst the sound of the firecrackers was a new experience to her. “This is the first time that I’ve played in this environment. Definitely not easy. I’m pretty sure it’s also not easy for any players as well because we’re so used playing in a quiet environment, so I think it was just trying to be focused there,” she said.

Tjen said before she arrived in Chennai she was aware that the tournament overlaps with Diwali and tried her best to overcome the noise factor, and revealed it didn’t affect her game. “Um, not really, I would say. I think we somehow just improvised that there’ll be firecrackers going on uh, during the match and I think um, knowing like knowing that in advance definitely help and yeah, just trying to blow in and tune it out as much as possible and it’s definitely not easy.”