World badminton: Monkey whisperers, new-look venue ready for action

From monkey whisperers to a refurbished venue worth almost Rs 20 crore, organisers have spared no effort to see that the BWF World Championships 2026 at Delhi's Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium passes off without a hitch, unlike the India Open in January. The week-long extravaganza, which gets underway on Monday, 17 August, is coming back to Indian shores after 17 years.

Just to jog the memory, the indigenous method of employing human monkey whisperers is meant to scare off possible simian intruders — particularly langurs — as one wild specimen had interrupted proceedings at the India Open and caused great embarrassment to the Badminton Federation of India (BAI). Organisers have also applied non-toxic gel to stop pigeons from roosting and soiling the courts, another menace which earned plenty of negative publicity during the India Open. 

The idea of ‘monkey whisperers’ sparked some online sarcasm, but former world champion and five-time Worlds medallist P.V. Sindhu took to social media to defend the idea. ‘’You may laugh at the solution, but you have to love the effort,’’ Sindhu said in a post, reminding followers of how Wimbledon uses Rufus the hawk to keep pigeons away.

What will act as a morale booster for the organisers is that the venue has already got a thumbs-up from the Chinese contingent, who trained there on Saturday along with all other top teams.

“I think the stadium has changed a lot, that’s very good. I just finished my training, I feel like there was a little bit of wind on the court, so we need to get used to the conditions,” said Chinese world no. 3 Wang Zhi Yi, who is likely to face Sindhu in the pre-quarterfinals.

Apart from Wang, Chinese hopes of ending their 15-year gold medal drought in women’s singles will rest on 2020 Olympic gold medallist Chen Yufei and world no. 5 Han Yue. Speaking after the team practice, Chen said: ‘’The conditions are quite good compared to the last time we played here. I am getting used to the weather but apart from that, I am just focused on giving my best in the tournament.’’

Apart from Wang, Chinese hopes of ending their 15-year gold medal drought in women’s singles will rest on 2020 Olympic gold medallist Chen Yufei and world number 5 Han Yue. Speaking after the team practice, Chen said: ‘’The conditions are quite good compared to the last time we played here. I am getting used to the weather but apart from that, I am just focused on giving my best in the tournament.’’

Unlike the India Open, where the competition usually starts on a Tuesday, the Worlds action begins on Monday, with matches in the top half of the men’s and women’s singles draws taking place on the opening day.

The players who practiced in the main hall said there was a slight side drift on all the courts and their focus was to understand the conditions and make adjustments quickly.