Will Lee Chong Wei lose his cool without AC?

It looks like the Indian Badminton League (IBL) match between Mumbai Masters and Awadhe Warriors will be a tough one, but not necessarily the tie itself.

The Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, the venue of the contest, will not have a functioning air-conditioning system.

With a lot of floodlighting and some 3,000 people expected to turn up for the matches on Saturday and Sunday, the playing conditions will be far from ideal.

World No 1 Lee Chong Wei, turning out for Mumbai Masters in the IBL, was not happy with the air-conditioning turned off during his World Championships men’s singles final against Chinese Lin Dan in China. Well, will he like it here?

Also, the Stadium is designed to have courts placed lengthwise with the lighting on top set up in a similar manner. Surprisingly, the badminton court has been placed widthwise. Any player looking up will have bright lights shining directly in his or her eyes.

The Mumbai players turned up for practice in the evening. While they appeared to be doing well practice, it could be different during the match. Local authorities were trying hard to refocus the lights so as to minimise the glare in the players’ eyes.

Mumbai Masters CEO Ramya Vankina, however, chose to downplay both issues. With just over a day left for the match to begin, cleaning was going on at a furious pace.