There will be plenty of noise at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium when the badminton World Championships begin next week. Some of it, however, will not be coming from the stands and will have little to do with badminton.

Three men trained to imitate the calls of langurs – a mixture of grunts and hoots — have been brought in as part of the preparations for the BWF World Championships, in an unusual attempt to ensure that the macaque that gatecrashed the India Open does not make a return.

The theory is simple. Rhesus macaques are afraid of langurs, which are considerably larger, and will generally flee when they hear their calls.

“Monkeys are very afraid of langurs, which are much bigger than them, so when we make these sounds, monkeys usually flee,” said Zafar, one of the three men employed for the job. “We have worked in the South and North Block in New Delhi and Gurgaon previously. It is very effective,” he told Sportstar.

READ | Monkey in attendance at low-key India Open

At the India Open earlier this year, a rhesus macaque was seen wandering amongst the spectators gallery as well as the practise hall at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium located in the Indira Gandhi Stadium complex. Several players and spectators had taken pictures and videos of the macaque then.

The measures are part of a wider overhaul of the badminton hall to ensure the animal kingdom stays outside the stadium and avoid the problems that disrupted the India Open earlier this year. Apart from the macaque in the stands, there were multiple instances where matches were disrupted after pigeon poop fell on the court. Players had also complained that there was pigeon poop on the floor of the practise court.

To prevent a recurrence, the air conditioning pipes in the ceiling of the stadium have been treated with anti-pest gel also used in New Delhi’s railway stations to discourage pigeons from roosting. The entrances of ventilators have been covered while broken ceiling windows have been sealed. Officials conducting a tour of the premises said that there were 16 entrances to the inner hall on the first and second floors, and double doors have now been installed at all of them to prevent avian intruders.

Work at the stadium which is still ongoing extends beyond animal control though. Organisers say they have also refurbished 2,500 seats in the stadium. Fifty-seven of the 66 toilets in the stadium complex have been renovated, with the remaining nine having been refurbished last year, according to Ambar Pratap Singh, Executive Director, Sports Authority of India, Delhi.

Overhead lighting too has been upgraded. At the India Open last year, there were several areas of the court covered in shadow while other parts were blindingly bright– something that was blamed on a misalignment of the overhead spotlights. When Sportstar visited the stadium on Monday, the court was evenly lit.

“While the BWF did not raise any concerns about the overhead lighting during the tournament, officials felt that shadows were being cast on the court and have upgraded the lighting ahead of the World Championships. A team from Indonesia is also expected to inspect the lighting over the next few days,” says Sanjay Mishra, general secretary of Badminton Association of India.

Published on Aug 10, 2026