India's badminton stars stuck at Hong Kong airport immigration for over eight hours

What's the story?

In an embarrassing and unacceptable turn of events, it appears that some of India's top badminton stars have been unnecessarily kept waiting and are seemingly stuck at the Hong Kong International Airport as of yesterday.

The news first became public after ace Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap tweeted out against the travesty via his official Twitter account. The badminton star highlighted the plight of the players who are in Hong Kong this week to train before the Hong Kong Open begins on 21st November. The tweet read in its full as follows:

Stuck at Hong Kong Airport immigration . Even after we mention that we are here for a tournament .

— Parupalli Kashyap (@parupallik) November 19, 2017

A source close to the players told Sportskeeda, "The players have been waiting at the airport for a long time now but are expected to be allowed to pass by the authorities."

In case you didn't know...

The Hong Kong Open 2017 is one of the many landmark badminton tournaments organised by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and with India's shuttlers currently making up much of the top brass in both men's and women's categories, the incident is made even more embarrassing for all the authorities involved.

The heart of the matter

Luckily for the Indian contingent, Kashyap's tweet immediately caught fire on social media and prompted a response from the likes of the Consulate General of India in Hong Kong who requested for the contact details of the contingent in order to sort the issue out at the earliest.

Kashyap replied to the Consulate's tweet nearly eight hours after his first tweet, stating that he has sent his details to the authority and which means that the shuttlers are still there at the airport waiting for clearance.

Sir/Madam, I have sent a direct message to this acc pls check .

— Parupalli Kashyap (@parupallik) November 19, 2017

What's next?

India's challenge at the BWF Hong Kong Open 2017 begins on 21st November and will continue until 26th November. The event is scheduled to be held in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong.

Author's take

This is certainly not the first time that an Indian contingent has been kept waiting at an International Airport and highlights a much bigger problem that needs to be addressed at the earliest.