I hope it's the first and last experience like this way: P V Sindhu on Dubai ordeal

P V Sindhu has now returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham.

New Delhi: Two-time Olympic medal-winning Indian badminton star P V Sindhu confessed on Tuesday that she struggled to remain calm during the three-day ordeal in Dubai, wishing it to be the first and last such experience in her life.

Sindhu was stranded in Dubai due to closure of airspace in the Gulf region following the US and Israeli bombing of Iran and the subsequent retaliation by Tehran.

She has now returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham. She was to travel to Birmingham via Dubai but could not do so due to travel disruptions.

"Obviously, there was a lot of stress. And it was scary. I think the only thing maybe was to stay calm. I know that's not the ideal situation where you say we are calm, but we're not inside," Sindhu said during a media interaction facilitated by Sports Authority of India (SAI).

"Actually, it is very stressful. But I think it is an experience, I must say. And I hope it's the first and the last experience like this way. But yeah, I think we were calm, the whole team was calm."

Sindhu and her team, including Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, had a narrow escape after an explosion near the Dubai airport. She was scheduled to face Thailand's Supanida Katethong in the opening round but was forced to pull out of the tournament.

She said she explored every option to travel to the UK to take part in the prestigious tournament, including going to Oman by road or to India and take a circuitous route to reach Birmingham.

"I tried every possible way but there were no flights. And (if I had even taken circuitous route), maybe I would reach on Thursday, so you can't do anything."

"I got a call from Emirates last evening that there are flights to India. I was sad that I couldn't play the tournament. But my safety was very important. My life was very important. So, it's okay now."

"It is a bit sad that I couldn't play. But again it's important to be safe." Sindhu expressed her gratitude to civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Raksha Khadse, who serves as the minister of state (MoS) for youth affairs and sports, and the Indian consular general in Dubai for helping her return to the country safely.

Explosion near the Dubai airport was scary

Sindhu said she and her coach landed in Dubai airport on February 28 at 1pm and in 15 minutes they were told all flights were suspended. It was the beginning of their ordeal.

"Just a few hours before my landing, my colleagues like the doubles and singles players actually took off from Dubai to Birmingham. So it was just like those few hours, if I would have gone before, I would have reached Birmingham," she rued.

Speaking about the explosion just 100m away from her coach, she said: "After waiting for a couple of hours, we were taken to transit hotel. The whole process took a lot of time because the airport was in a chaos, all the flights from different countries got cancelled. The trains weren't working and immigration was shut."

"Then we finally got out and we were going to the hotel and my coach was actually in the airport itself. We got a call from the coach saying there was a big sound. I don't know if it was explosion or debris or drone. There was lot smoke and people ran out."

"So it was terrifying when we heard that big sound all of a sudden like 100m away. It is scary."

Sindhu said even after reaching her hotel, she could hear loud noises in the sky.

"I also could hear those big noises five, six times when I was inside the hotel and it was scary. And we also got these emergency messages on our phone saying that stay indoors.

"Every day, they kept saying, the airspace is shut today, tomorrow. So we didn't know what was going on because one side, I was missing my tournament, the days were actually going on. And another side, I was like, okay, you know, safety is very important."

BWF has waived penalty of USD 5000

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has waived the USD 5,000 penalty on Sindhu for missing the 2026 All England Open considering the extraordinary circumstances.

"Generally when you don't play big tournaments like Super 1000 or Super 750, the top 1 to 15 players in the world, there's a penalty of USD 5000. But if there's a reason, if you're injured or obviously these situations are like you never expect it to happen. It's the first time it has ever happened like this."

"So, in these situations, I've actually explained them (BWF) my situation and they said, okay, we will waive off the penalty because we understand that it's fair like you cannot do anything. You're stuck in between a war situation and you cannot do anything."

Regarding possible loss of ranking points, she said, "I have explained them in a mail. They (BWF) will come back to me. It's a very different situation which nobody might have faced until now. It's just me, it has never come up this way."

"They've also asked me to actually tell them in a collaborative way saying what do you actually think from your point of view? "Being an Athletes Commission member (of BWF), I will put my views, but they're also going to explain me from their side how it works. They will reply in a day or two. So, let's see. We will definitely come into an equal ground."

The next tournament is the Swiss Open from March 10, and Sindhu said she will try to take part in it but indicated that it could be difficult.

"I am trying to get flight tickets, but most of the flights go via Dubai and tickets are full. Let's see."