S'pore's Loh Kean Yew wins at India Open despite match being stopped twice for bird poop on court

Loh Kean Yew, Singapore's national shuttler known for his agility on the court, could not dodge an unexpected opponent: bird poo.

On Jan. 15, during the India Open, Low's round-of-16 match against H.S. Prannoy was halted twice as bird droppings splattered onto the court in the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

In two videos posted to his Instagram stories, Loh pleaded with the pigeons, "please don't poop on me", and remarked that the droppings "seem freshly made".

Nature called twice

The first interruption came during the opening game, with Prannoy leading 16-14.

Just as the Indian shuttler was about to serve, the umpire was seen in video footage signalling for him to wait, before stopping play and calling for the affected area to be cleaned.

India Open badminton match between Loh Kean Yew and HS Prannoy halted at 16-14 in the first game after bird poop lands on court at Indira Gandhi stadium. Match was halted for the same reason in game 3. 2 days ago BAI had stated that pigeons were only there in practise court. pic.twitter.com/SFlqsEHiRG

— jonathan selvaraj (@jon_selvaraj) January 15, 2026

Loh, clearly curious, then walked over to take a closer look at the scene before play resumed.

Bird droppings made a second appearance early in the deciding set, this time while Loh was serving.

Once again, the match was briefly halted as officials cleaned the court.

Despite the distractions, Loh went on to win 18-21, 21-19, 21-14.

He will face Thai world No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarter-finals on Jan. 16.

Not the first time feathers were ruffled

On Jan. 13, Danish women’s singles player Mia Blichfeldt said birds were flying around the arena and that she had seen bird poo on the floor.

The Times of India reported that Blichfeldt stated that the court environment was dirty and unhealthy.

"Yesterday when I came to the warm-up courts, there were birds flying around and shitting on the court. That's really unhealthy and not normal."

In response to her comments, the Badminton Association of India stated that she was referring to the training area, and that the "playing arena has been kept clean, dirt-free and pigeon-free", reported Tabla.

The 2026 India Open, which is an international badminton tournament with a total prize money of US$950,000 (S$1.2 million), will be held from Jan. 13 to Jan. 18.

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Top photo from @jon_selvaraj/X, Canva and Loh Kean Yew/Instagram.