NEW DELHI, Jan. 16 -- The India Open - the country's biggest badminton event - is getting embroiled in one controversy after the other. Two days after Danish shuttler Mia Blichfeldt complained of birds and bird droppings on the practice courts of the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, bird droppings halted a men's singles match, not once but twice, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. With India's HS Prannoy leading 16-14 in the opening game of his second round match against former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, play was stopped as both the shuttlers approached the net to look at something that had dropped from the ceiling. "It was bird shit which kind of halted the game," Prannoy said after the match. A tournament official came with a cleaner to wipe the excreta as play resumed after a gap of three to four minutes. Just after the first point of the deciding game, the birds were at it again. Prannoy looked down and then pointed towards the roof, indicating what had happened to the umpire. Once again, play was stopped for about three to four minutes before it resumed again. Badminton courts are supposed to be completely dry as even a droplet can lead to a slip which can cause injuries. On Wednesday, world No.3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark had said that he had pulled out of the event for the third year running due to "extreme" air pollution levels, incurring a $5,000 fine from the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Asked if he too is having difficulty, Loh said: "Yeah, of course, anyone would. My stamina has dropped two levels with the haze going on. I am surprised you guys are okay. I just wear my mask when I can. I just try and stay indoors as much as possible." A couple of monkeys too that had made their way into both IGI Stadium and adjacent KD Jadhav Indoor Hall on Wednesday. With so many complaints, BWF issued a statement on Thursday. "The BWF has engaged with players and teams during the India Open 2026 to review conditions at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex... Managing factors related largely to seasonal conditions, such as the haze and cold weather affecting the air quality and temperature inside the venue has posed challenges this week. However, our assessments confirm that the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex represents a significant upgrade from KD Jadhav Stadium, offering improved infrastructure." The venue is to host the BWF World Championships in August. Barring Lakshya Sen, all Indians kept losing one on Court 1, be it Kidambi Srikanth, Malvika Bansod, HS Prannoy among others. But the 2,000-odd fans that had turned up waited for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The hopes of the fans as well as the third seeded pair fell flat as they lost their second round men's doubles clash 25-27, 23-21, 21-19 to Japan's Hiroki Modorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita in what was the first match between the two pairs. Round 2 results (Indians only): Men's singles: Christo Popov (FRA) beat Kidambi Srikanth 21-14, 17-21, 21-17, Loh Kean Yew (SGP) beat HS Prannoy 18-21, 21-19, 21-14, Lakshya Sen beat Kenta Nishimoto (JPN) 21-19, 21-10; Women's singles: Han Yue (CHN) beat Malvika Bansod 21-18, 21-15; Men's doubles: Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (CHN)beat Hariharan Amsakarunan/MR Arjun 21-15, 21-15, Hiroki Modorikawa/Kyohei Yamashita (JPN) beat Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty 25-27, 23-21, 21-19; Women's doubles: Li Yi Jing/Luo Xu Min (CHN) beat Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand 20-22, 24-22, 23-21....