Just days after the Badminton Association of India (BAI) denied the presence of birds in the playing arena at the 2026 India Open, bird shit on court briefly halted the proceedings not once but twice during HS Prannoy’s Round of 16 match on Thursday.
The first incident happened in the opening game when Prannoy led 16-14, while the second happened when he led 1-0 in the decider. The officials had to enter the court with tissue papers to clean up the mess on both occasions.
“It think it was the bird shit which halted the game a bit,” said Prannoy after the match when asked about what caused the stoppage in play.
Prannoy eventually ended up losing the contest 21-18, 19-21, 14-21 to crash out of the competition against the former world champion.
The loss marked Prannoy’s third loss against Loh Kean Yew in what was their seventh encounter. The Indian veteran still holds a 4-3 advantage against the Singapore shuttler.
Just on Tuesday, Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt had raised questions about birds and bird shit in and around the arena for a second consecutive year.
“I think the floors are dirty. There is a lot of dirt on the courts. There’s bird shit, there’s birds flying around in the arena,” Blichfeldt had said after her opening round win.
The Badminton Association of India had then in a statement asserted that the conditions the Danish shuttler described were only in the practice area at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall.
“Mia’s comments were made in a broader context around general playing conditions and personal health sensitivities, and not about the playing arena at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open specifically.
“She has clearly stated that the competition venue itself is well maintained. As mentioned in her conversation regarding the warm-up area, it is important to note that she was referring to the KD Jadhav Stadium, which serves as the training venue, and not the main playing arena,” a statement from Sanjay Mishra, the general secretary of BAI read.
