On February 4, 2023, Tanya Hemanth from Karnataka won the women’s singles title at the Iran Fajr International Challenge in Iran’s Tehran.
But she had to put on a headscarf before collecting the gold medal at the medal ceremony. The Badminton sources stated that organisers made it clear that headscarves were compulsory for the women’s medal winners.
The prospectus talked about clothing rules in the Badminton World Federations competition regulars, which is common in tournaments all around the world. This time too, the tournament prospectus made no mention of a podium dress code.
Women shuttlers never face these codes during the matches- leggings or headscarves, but no male spectator was allowed to watch them play and even enter the stadium.
A sticker at the entrance stated no men allowed, it did not discriminate between a coach or a parent.
The women’s schedule was in the morning and for men, it was in the afternoon. Only female spectators were allowed to see women’s matches. Also, all the officials in the women’s tournament were female.
Male parents who accompanied their daughters could not even see their wards play. It was only in the mixed doubles that women and men were seen together in the court.
Interestingly the tournament had mixed doubles on its menu which was the first instance where ten pairs from around the world took part.
Later, India’s Tanya Hemanth cruised in the first game and met a little resistance from the top seed in the second before registering a 21-7, 21-11 win. Apparently, the organisers told Tanya to wear a headscarf while collecting the medals.
