Badminton: Why BAI decided to introduce online ticketing system for India Open 2025 | Badminton News
For the first time, the India Open badminton tournament will have paid tickets, and an online-only paperless process to go along with it.
Even after being upgraded to a Super 750 event on the BWF World Tour for the last couple of editions, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) continued with the tradition of having free tickets for the event that takes place at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi. Last year, the turnout was especially impressive over the last couple of rounds, with Indians HS Prannoy and Satwik-Chirag in action. But the process to get tickets was cumbersome as fans had to come to the venue a day earlier to pick up free paper tickets to be present for next day’s matches.
Most importantly, the BAI wanted to trial this system before hosting the World Championships in 2026. “BWF says that for World Championships, it is mandatory to have a ticketing system in place,” BAI secretary general Sanjay Mishra told The Indian Express. “We are trying this for the first time, as we want to tap into the large fanbase for badminton in the country. As far as I know, apart from cricket, no federation in India has been able to figure out having tickets for events in India. So it’s a first experience, let’s see how it goes, the early signs are good. We are trying to gauge response before the 2026 Worlds.”
There is also the ease of it. When announcing Ticmint as the ticketing platform, BAI had said that they were enhancing convenience and accessibility while reducing on-ground congestion. “This move will allow us to give priority to fans who truly want to watch the sport live, offering them a hassle-free way to secure their seats,” they had said in a statement.
Tickets are available for the lowest denomination of Rs 200 and as per organisers, a total of approximately 2,500 tickets have been sold as of the day before the event.
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