Delhi cabbie dupes Okuhara; BAI says ‘it’s unfortunate’

Nozomi Okuhara

Former world champion and Olympic medallist shuttler Nozomi Okuhara recently narrated her harrowing travel experience in India where she was duped by Delhi's notorious cab drivers and also made to wait for four hours before being allotted a hotel room in Cuttack, Odisha.

Okuhara, 28, took to the social media platform fansnet.jp to narrate her ordeal after being harassed by cab drivers at Delhi airport and not getting any official transportation after arriving in Cuttack on Monday to play in the Odisha Open. She also had to wait for four hours to check in at the hotel and wasn't provided with a shuttle bus/car for her scheduled 8 am practice session. An embarrassed Badminton Association of India (BAI) general secretary Sanjay Mishra termed the series of incidents as "unfortunate" and promised that "it won't happen in future."

Also Read: Junior India skipper Uttam living father's dream

However, in the local organising committee's defence, the all-powerful BAI secretary general said the ace Japanese shuttler didn't send any e-mail informing the logistical details. "I understand what Okuhara must have been through, but the fact is that we didn't receive any email regarding accommodation or transportation from her end. It is a technical issue and a matter of miscommunication," said Mishra.

Shetty, George enter pre-quarters

World junior championships bronze medallist Ayush Shetty and defending champion Kiran George entered the pre-quarterfinals but top seed Priyanshu Rajawat suffered a shock loss on the second day of the Odisha Masters Super 100 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. Second seed Kiran, who won the 2023 Indonesia Masters, fought off Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar 21-12, 10-21, 21-12, setting up a date with Iqbal Diaz Syahputra of Indonesia in the pre-quarters. Shetty was up against Muhammad Reza Al Fajri of Indonesia in Round 2. The 18-year-old held his nerves to win 19-21, 21-9, 22-20.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever