Bee Incident Halts Match at W100 Bengaluru Open

During the second round of the W100 Bengaluru Open on Thursday, top-seeded Australian player Talia Gibson and India’s Sahaja Yamalapalli had to leave the court unexpectedly when a swarm of bees invaded the stadium.

Play was paused at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium in India after a ball boy noticed the insects and alerted the referee.

In a moment of chaos, both players, along with the ball boy and ball girl, quickly made their way to a safe area.

The referee promptly climbed down from his chair to follow suit.

Spectators were also seen scrambling from their seats during the incident.

The match was temporarily halted for about 20 minutes but resumed shortly after. Gibson ended up winning convincingly, finishing with a score of 6-0, 6-0, and moving on to the quarterfinals.

Interestingly, the stadium, located within Cubbon Park, is surrounded by around 200 acres of greenery with more than 8,000 trees.

Earlier this month, Gibson claimed her first title of the season by defeating Nao Hibino in the final at W75 Brisbane.

Yamalapalli currently holds the title of India’s top-ranked women’s singles tennis player.