# India Open moved to Guwahati for 2028 on Republic Day security clash 2026-08-24T09:38:37+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The 2028 India Open Super 750 badminton tournament will be held in Guwahati instead of New Delhi, Badminton Association of India secretary general Sanjay Mishra announced on Sunday. The event is scheduled for January 25-30, clashing with Republic Day security arrangements in the national capital, making hosting difficult due to logistics. Mishra said the shift is only for that year, with the tournament returning to Delhi in 2029. Guwahati previously hosted the 2025 World Junior Championships successfully. Top players including Denmark's Anders Antonsen and France's Thom Gicquel have criticised the January window due to Delhi's severe winter air pollution and cold indoor temperatures. The Badminton World Federation had moved the 2027 edition to February 2-7 to avoid the worst winter conditions, but reverted to late January for 2028. Separately, BAI has also bid to host the 2028 Thomas and Uber Cup and is awaiting a decision after the World Championships. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The shift to Guwahati is a logistical fix, but the deeper issue is player discontent with the January window. Anders Antonsen has openly defied BWF’s scheduling, accepting fines rather than competing in Delhi's toxic air. The BWF had already conceded by moving the event to February in 2027, only to revert in 2028. For India, the India Open is a flagship BWF World Tour Super 750 event, carrying prize money of at least $850,000. Guwahati, which successfully hosted the 2025 World Junior Championships, has the infrastructure, but January air quality in Assam is often better than Delhi's. Yet the core conflict remains: will BWF force India to permanently move the tournament to a cleaner season or location, or risk top players skipping it again? The next signal comes when BWF publishes the 2028 calendar, if the Thomas and Uber Cup bid succeeds, India will have two major events in one year to manage. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Leads with BAI secretary general's logistical reason, quotes player criticism as context, no editorialising on government or pollution This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Anders Antonsen, Badminton Association of India, Badminton World Federation, Guwahati, India Open, Sanjay Mishra Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-open-moved-to-guwahati-for-2028-on-republic-day-security-clash/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-open-moved-to-guwahati-for-2028-on-republic-day-security-clash/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/