New Delhi: A day after an umpire died during a under-13 cricket match in Unnao due to a bee attack, a similar sort of an incident occurred in Bengaluru
during a tennis match. It was a W100k Tennis event in Bengaluru where a big swarm of bees invaded the court mid-match forcing the players and staff to run for their lives.
The alarming incident took place during the first set of the match between the top Talia Gibson, and India’s Sahaja Yamalapalli. In the video which surfaced online, it was a ball boy who first spotted the swarm approaching from the side of the court and he was quick to alert all the players within few seconds.
As soon as the players and staff were alerted, a thick cloud of bees descended onto the playing area with players dropping their rackets and running towards their locker rooms. In the video which has gone viral on social media, both Gibson and Sahaja could be seen dropping their rackets and sprinting towards their locker rooms. The chair umpire and the ball boys also followed suit, abandoning the court for some time.
Furthermore, the match was suspended for around 20 to 30 minutes and the security and ground staff had to intervene before the play resumed again.
Watch the video
A swarm of honey #bees caused chaos at the 2026 ITF #BengaluruOpen on Thursday, forcing players and spectators to scramble for safety at the S.M. Krishna #Tennis Stadium inside #CubbonPark. Play was temporarily suspended during the round of 16 clash between Australian top seed… pic.twitter.com/7huXNyo2FV
— News9 (@News9Tweets) February 20, 2026
Meanwhile, the incident brought back the memories of the famous ‘Bee Invasion’ at Indian Wells in 2024 during the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, which was delayed for nearly two hours. A break in play didn’t stop Gibson from dominating the game, as she didn’t let her Indian opponent win a single game. She won the match in straight sets – 6-0, 6-0 – to storm into the quarterfinals.
