Chidambaram "hurt" by England's pullout from World Badminton Championships

Hyderabad, Aug 17 (ANI): home Minister P. Chidambaram has said he was hurt by England's pullout of the World Badminton Championships that concluded in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Talking to reporters here, Chidambaram said that he was deeply hurt when England pulled out of the championships after local media created security hysteria.

"When some of you (media persons) questioned the security in Hyderabad and Cyberabad and despite a statement made by me one of the teams withdrew...I say frankly that I was burning inside when I saw that. So I thought I would come here to compliment the government, the police of Andhra Pradesh, especially the commissioners of Hyderabad and Cyberabad on foolproof security they provided," he added

"We have the capacity to provide full and complete security to any international sports event," he said.

With an eye on next year's Commonwealth Games being hosted in New Delhi, Chidambaram said that India was capable of hosting any international sports event.

"He (Chidambaram) was impressed with the way the tournament was conducted and even the World Badminton officials told him that the conduct of the World Badminton Championship has been exemplary," said B. K. Verma, President of Badminton Association of India.

The England team and later two Austrian players had pulled out of the world championships amid concerns about the team's security.

Badminton England said in a statement that the decision followed "concerns about the English team potentially being a target of attack in the event of a terrorist act." (ANI)