Is it fair that my friend might lose a great opportunity just because of his English?

This happened a few days ago. My friend is one of the best programmers in our batch, but he froze in his placement interview because of his English. Is this fair?

So placements just started, and one of my closest friends and easily one of the best coders in our class had his first interview yesterday.

The company (a small startup) began with a language proficiency round. No tech questions. They just asked for an intro, a short talk about his favorite food place, and a quick essay.

He’s not fluent in English and he understands it fine, but speaking is hard. During his turn, he mispronounced a couple of words, and the interviewer actually smiled (almost laughed). He noticed. His confidence collapsed, and he couldn’t continue.

This guy can build full projects on his own, but he might lose the chance before they even test his skills.

I get that communication matters, but for technical roles, should it really outweigh ability? Has anyone else seen this happen in placements?