Indian badminton player Tanya Hemanth, who won the women’s singles title at the Iran Fajr International Challenge badminton tournament 2023 in Tehran on Sunday, had to wear a headscarf before collecting her gold medal.
The 19-year-old shuttler from Karnataka, faced off against defending champion and top seed Tasnim Mir, also from India, and defeated 7-21, 11-21 in what was the shortest match of the day. It was also the first win for Tanya over Tasnim in a BWF tournament.
Tanya, who trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, cruised to victory. But after her win, it was reported that the organisers asked Tanya to wear a headscarf at the medal ceremony, which was one of the event’s conventions. The practice was prevalent in 2022 as well, when Tasnim won the crown.
This was despite the fact that the tournament prospectus made no mention of a podium dress code, according to the reports by leading daily English the Times of India.
“The prospectus talked about the clothing rules in the Badminton World Federation’s competition regulations, which is most common in tournaments around the world. While we knew that headscarves were a must when women stepped out in Tehran, there was no particular mention of their use during the tournament,” the report said.
This rule was not enforced on the women shuttlers during their matches but no male spectator was allowed to watch them play. Ironically, the tournament reportedly had a mixed doubles event as well, with 10 pairs from around the world taking part in the competition.
“The women’s schedule was in the morning and the men’s in the afternoon. Only female spectators were allowed to watch the women’s matches. Also, match officials were all women in women’s matches. Male parents who accompanied their daughters to this meet didn’t get to watch a single match. It was only during mixed doubles that men and women players were seen together on the court,” TOI's sources said.
13 Indian women shuttlers participated in the competition along with one pair in doubles.
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