The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has expressed satisfaction with the improvements made at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium ahead of the World Championships, saying several issues that emerged during the India Open earlier this year have now been addressed.
The venue faced criticism during the India Open Super 750 in January, with players and officials raising concerns about hygiene, poorly maintained toilets and the presence of pigeons and monkeys inside the complex.
BWF Events Director (Tournament Operations) Selvaamresh Supramaniam said the governing body has repeatedly inspected the venue over the past seven months and has witnessed substantial progress.
“We visited the stadium in January, February, April, June and then in the last couple of days. A lot of work has been done,” Supramaniam said.
According to him, the refurbishment has covered several parts of the stadium, including washrooms, seating and the roof.
“Renovations to all the toilets, there’s been a lot of deep cleaning done, damaged seats have been replaced, a lot of sealing, wiring work has been done, broken ceilings have been replaced and waterproofing was done on the roof.”
Measures To Keep Birds Away
One of the most visible problems during the India Open was the presence of birds inside the playing arena. BWF said measures have now been introduced to prevent pigeons from settling on the stadium’s roof beams.
“They’ve finished putting gel on the roof. This gel prevents birds from sitting or perching on the beams, similar to what you’ll find near airports.”
Supramaniam said the situation has already improved considerably during his recent visits.
“The last three days that I’ve been there, I’ve not seen any pigeons. I don’t know whether that’s because there are a lot of people or the gel is actually doing its job. I’ve not seen any monkeys as well.”
Steps have also reportedly been taken to address the issue of stray dogs around the venue.
“From what I heard, they rounded up almost 60-odd dogs and they were sent away. There are still some, but they are confident they’ll be able to round them up as well.”
Lighting Also Under Review
Attention has also turned to the stadium’s lighting, which attracted criticism during the India Open. The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has brought in consultants from Indonesia to work on the issue.
“The lighting, if you remember, during India Open was below expectations. We are working on it. BAI agreed to bring in consultants from Indonesia, who have worked on the Indonesia Open and Indonesia Masters.”
With the World Championships scheduled to begin on August 17, cleaning and maintenance work will continue in the final days.
“We are happy, but we still need to keep checking for the next few days on the cleaning that’s being done. Understandably, there’ll be a lot of workmen going in and out. And with rain, it is bound to get dirty. We just need to keep doing the cleaning.”
Supramaniam stressed that the priority is delivering a trouble-free tournament.
“Our main focus still is to deliver a tournament that’s free from any problems. Competition comes first. The rest is all show.”