Indian badminton medallist H.S. Prannoy says athletes missing ‘whole fun’ of Asian Games

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 27 - India badminton medallist H.S. Prannoy has criticised Asian Games organisers for putting on a "sad" event for athletes and arranging a "cruel" competition schedule for his sport.

Prannoy, who won a men's team bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, said the lack of a dedicated athletes' village had taken away the joy of mixing with other competitors, who had been spread across hotels, temporary wooden units and a cruise ship.

"The whole fun and the whole point of multi-sport events is you get to meet the rest of the players," he said in a video interview posted on the Badminton Association of India's YouTube channel on Saturday.

"There is an opportunity to mingle with them. There is an opportunity to have a conversation with them. We only felt that when we went for the opening ceremony.

“It was literally sad to be in such a situation."

Prannoy said the Games compared poorly to his experience at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, where he was part of the silver medal-winning men's team.

"Straight from China, you expect things to be better three-four years later but in this event, (it went) downwards. A lot of (athletes) had difficult experiences in terms of accommodation and transport.

“It was just a mediocre event, to be honest."

Aichi-Nagoya organisers did not immediately respond on Sunday to a request for comment on Prannoy's remarks.

On Saturday, an Aichi-Nagoya Games organising committee official apologised for logistical mistakes that have affected athletes, saying accommodation and transport had improved and that staff were working "to identify the causes of each mistake and make sure they don't happen again".

A number of athletes and teams have complained of logistical problems at the Games, ranging from long waits to check in to their rooms, to transport glitches.

Prannoy also criticised the badminton scheduling, noting players in the singles tournament had competed in two matches a day, one more than usual.

"It's cruel because everybody is aiming for a good Asian Games, which comes once in four years. To have two singles games in a day, I haven't seen it like that in ages,"  said Prannoy. REUTERS