Apart from the opponents on the court, shuttlers often have to deal with the drift caused by air conditioning and ventilation in the arena.

At the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi, during the ongoing Badminton World Championships, the four courts in use are each experiencing drift, but under different conditions.

Drift is a dynamic that keeps changing, shaped by factors including crowd presence, and increases or decreases in the AC, temperature or humidity. This is the first time air conditioning has been used in the arena, since India’s other major badminton event, the India Open Super 750, is held in winter, when the ACs aren’t needed.

On Tuesday, Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen lost the first game 16-21 to Austrian Collins Valentine Filimon, sending a ripple through the arena as he struggled to read the drift, before coming back to win comfortably, 21-8, 21-4, in the next two games.

“We have played in crazy drifty conditions, this is nothing. It usually takes some time to adjust to these conditions and that’s what happened with me in the first game,” Lakshya said after the match.

Drift on the central courts

Courts one and two, the central courts, were not much affected by side drift in the first few hours of the event, since air from the central AC vents kept the drift steady. Even so, the direction of the airflow meant one side of the court played faster than the other.

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Japanese shuttler Kodai Naraoka, who beat Chi Yu Jen 21-12, 7-21, 21-16, explained the drift during his match. “The side opposite to the audience was the fast one. On the other hand, the shuttle was not travelling for me, and that is why I lost the second game 7-21,” he said.

Side drift on the side courts

Courts three and four are the two side courts. Positioned closer to the side AC vents, they experienced a fair bit of side drift on top of the normal drift.

Letshanaa Karupathevan of Malaysia, who won her first game against Fadilah Shamika 21-11, 21-7, said the side drift was a little tricky to deal with. “On court 3, there was some side drift also, as my shots were getting wide at times. Once I figured that out, it became easy for me to place my shot,” she said.

Impact of the AC

As the day progressed and more spectators arrived for the Ayush Shetty-Shi Yuqi clash, the AC was increased, and it affected the drift. The two played on court 1, and as the AC ramped up, the court began to experience side drift towards the right.

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In the second game, Shi Yuqi tried multiple smashes, but they kept landing sideways because of the drift.

“The problem in drifty conditions is that when the shuttle is up in the air, it floats unpredictably, so it is tough to get the perfect connection in attack, on the smash,” explained badminton coach Vimal Kumar.

During the Ayush-Shi clash, Shi Yuqi struggled specifically with his lifts. “It boils down to timing, or the right feel on the shuttle. Shi Yuqi was really worried about lifting and was completely undone by the drift, because he didn’t have a good judgement on the lift,” Kumar said.

“I have told Lakshya, Sindhu and Ayush that your biggest and only challenge will be getting used to the drift,” he added.