Badminton players stopped the game when they found a snake curled up on the edge of a court.

The two teams were on a warm-up match during training when one of them noticed the python sitting idly nearby in Cavite, the Philippines on July 6.

Footage shows the shocked youngsters pointing their rackets at the reptile. One of them said in the video: ‘Look, there's a snake.'

A player used his badminton racket to push the animal away as they didn't know how to handle it.

Player Mavvie Cochico said: ‘We didn't want to believe it was a real snake, we thought our friends were doing a prank but it was moving.'

The players called the facility's staff for assistance and evacuated the snake to a nearby forest by the river.