# Players praise revamped IG Stadium ahead of BWF Worlds 2026-08-16T15:26:47+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets International shuttlers have praised the transformed Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi as the BWF World Championships begin on Monday, August 17. The venue faced sharp criticism during the India Open in January over pigeon droppings, monkey intrusions, and poor lighting. Times Now reports that the Badminton Association of India and the Sports Authority of India have applied non-toxic gel to deter pigeons, installed reinforced glass doors, deployed machines that mimic predatory bird sounds, and employed four men trained to mimic langurs to scare away monkeys. Malaysian player Aaron Chia said the environment is "a lot better than the last India Open." Japanese world champion Akane Yamaguchi noted temperature control remains an issue, calling it "pretty warm." National Herald reports that the Chinese contingent, including world No. 3 Wang Zhi Yi and Olympic gold medallist Chen Yufei, gave the venue a thumbs-up after training. Former world champion P.V. Sindhu defended the monkey-whisperer solution on social media, comparing it to Wimbledon's use of a hawk. The refurbishment cost nearly Rs 20 crore, according to National Herald. ## Coverage - timesnownews.com - nationalheraldindia.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-16T17:57:00+00:00. Tags: Akane Yamaguchi, Badminton Association of India, BWF World Championships, Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Nozomi Okuhara Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/shuttlers-praise-transformed-ig-stadium-ahead-of-bwf-worlds/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/shuttlers-praise-transformed-ig-stadium-ahead-of-bwf-worlds/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/