The India Open will move out of Delhi for the 2028 edition, with Guwahati set to host the prestigious BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament for one year before the event returns to the national capital, Badminton Association of India secretary general Sanjay Mishra has confirmed.
The move comes after the BWF unveiled its new World Tour calendar, with the India Open retaining its place as one of the sport’s premier Super 750 events. The tournament will remain in Delhi in 2027, but its dates have been shifted from the traditional January window to February 2-7.
In 2028, however, the tournament is scheduled for the January 25-30 window — coinciding with the Republic Day period in Delhi. That, Mishra said, is the primary reason BAI is considering moving the tournament to Guwahati for that edition.
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“The 2027 India Open will happen here. But for 2028, we might shift it to Guwahati because around 25th January to 29th or 30th January, that period — the 26th January period — in this area, it becomes very difficult for players’ movement, for practice, and for the tournament as well. So we might shift it to Guwahati,” Mishra told the media on the finals day of BWF World Championships, hosted in Delhi.
The move is not intended to be permanent. Mishra said the tournament would return to Delhi after the 2028 edition.
“After that, we will do it here only,” he said.
IT STAYS IN DELHI IN 2027
The immediate change, however, is not a change of venue but a change of dates.
The 2027 India Open will be held in Delhi in the first week of February. The tournament had traditionally occupied a January slot, with the 2026 edition taking place from January 13 to 18 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Mishra said BAI could not simply request a different date for the India Open because the BWF calendar is tightly structured.
“That is not possible. Actually, this is a calendar that BWF decides. Changing the date of one tournament would require changing the whole calendar, so that is not possible,” he said.
Instead, the tournament has been moved slightly later within the existing calendar structure.
“What used to be in January, we have shifted to February — now it is next from 2nd to 7th February. By that time, the cold reduces a bit and the pollution also decreases a bit,” Mishra said.
The February move is notable given the controversy surrounding the 2026 India Open, when Delhi’s winter conditions became a talking point among several international players.
Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew said during the tournament that he felt he was breathing less in Delhi and that the air quality affected players’ energy levels. Danish player Mia Blichfeldt also raised concerns about conditions around the training facilities.
World No. 4 Anders Antonsen, meanwhile, skipped the 2026 India Open because of Delhi’s pollution and was fined US$5,000 after his withdrawal was not accepted by the BWF. He had said at the time that he did not believe Delhi was a suitable place to host a badminton tournament amid the extreme pollution.
The Dane has continued to voice his opposition to playing the India Open in Delhi’s winter months. After returning to the capital for the World Championships, Antonsen said he was unhappy to see the tournament scheduled in Delhi again in February 2027 and argued that pollution in January and February could still be severe. He has indicated that he would rather pay the withdrawal penalty than play the tournament under such conditions again.
That makes the 2027 edition an interesting test of whether shifting the tournament from January to February can ease some of the concerns raised by players.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund has also acknowledged the air-quality concern while saying the 2027 India Open would go ahead in Delhi in February and expressing hope for players’ support.
A DIFFERENT DELHI IN AUGUST
The decision to take the India Open to Guwahati in 2028 should not, however, be read as a verdict on Delhi’s ability to host a major badminton tournament.
The capital’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium underwent a dramatic transformation in the months after the 2026 India Open, when the venue was criticised over hygiene, playing and practice conditions, bird droppings and a monkey intrusion. The concerns prompted a major facelift ahead of the BWF World Championships in August.
And the response during the World Championships was markedly different.
BWF Secretary General Thomas Lund praised the work carried out at the venue, saying he was “super impressed” by what had been established in such a short period. He also said the federation had received overwhelmingly positive feedback from players and other stakeholders who experienced the venue during the India Open and returned for the World Championships.
That turnaround matters to the India Open story. The Guwahati move for 2028 is therefore not a permanent vote against Delhi or a consequence of the venue’s earlier shortcomings. Mishra’s explanation is specifically about the tournament falling around the Republic Day period, when movement in the capital becomes difficult.
The India Open will thus take a temporary detour from its traditional home, with Delhi hosting in 2027, Guwahati potentially taking over in 2028 and the tournament expected to return to the capital thereafter.
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