Imagine for a moment that you are in the middle of a race track with the world’s fastest F1 car speeding towards you. A petrifying blackout moment with no chance of defence :(. That is precisely how the players might feel when they step onto the court to face Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who has recorded the fastest badminton smash with a speed of over 500 kmph. To watch this spectacle with my own eyes, last month, I attended my first-ever live badminton match, a sport I have zero experience playing (despite my wide spectrum of sporting interests), but I follow avidly. 

The growing popularity of the sport, thanks to the revolution spearheaded by Mr Pullela Gopichand, was visible as the KD Jadhav stadium (named after the legendary wrestler who won independent India’s first Olympic medal) was sold out for the semis and the finals. I must laud the organising committee for ensuring proper management and good fan engagement. The online ticketing system was smooth, with seats numbered instead of the first-come, first-served (or rather grabbed) model. This is such a simple and useful feature but I wonder why events do not like to follow it. Is it because they want to overbook to maximise profits? Free seating has always been a hassle, especially for a solo traveller like me as I fear not getting any seat, let alone one of my choice. Fan engagement zones involved fun games like a mini badminton court and activities like reflex checking, target hitting, and video games. Yonex put up official merchandise stores with the option of customising with your name. The food stalls were offering delicious food, albeit having skyrocketing prices. But alas, there were no queues in place 🙁 You had to wrestle your way (it was a wrestling stadium, after all) to grab your bite. It took me over half an hour to get a pizza, which would normally get delivered by Pizza Hut to my doorstep much faster! I felt sad for the foreign visitors with zero experience in dealing with such a crowded place with no queue management. And litter was thrown just about anywhere, even though dustbins were placed. Why do we lack such basic manners? And then we blame the administration for all our problems— irony at its peak! 

Anyway, enough of my rant on the lack of civic sense amongst Indians. Coming back to the sport, I got the opportunity to watch the exhilarating duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, popularly dubbed as Sat-Chi, although they lost in straight sets to the eventual champions from Malaysia, ending India’s campaign. No Indian contender for the podium at India Open, a sorry state of dip in the form of Indians who are currently struggling to get back their mojo after the Paris Olympics heartbreak. The highlight for me was Chochuwong, who came from behind to overcome Miyazaki in an exciting closely-contested three-setter. Axelsen followed in her footsteps to conquer Christie in a similar fashion, providing the much-needed thrill to the fans. Sports truly symbolises “it’s never over until it’s over.” As cameras were allowed, I got to capture some of the fast-paced action and explore the genre of sports photography. BWF should get on-court interviews, just like in tennis tournaments like the Grand Slams, at least from the semifinals, when only one court is in play. This will enhance the experience and provide insights into the player’s thoughts. 

All in all, it was a good day of enjoying quality sports action. This was until I headed to exit the stadium. No, it was not the melancholy of the day coming to an end, nor was it the sorrow of a fan seeing their country’s athletes lose. It was the nightmare of every girl travelling solo that spoiled my happy outing. I was subjected to eve-teasing with two men touching me inappropriately. Although there were many people around, I froze on the spot and couldn’t let out a scream. I ran towards my car at the first opportunity of escape and would have probably beat Usain Bolt’s long-standing record. I strongly hope and pray this does not happen again to me or anyone else, but if it does, I would be better prepared to create a ruckus, click the perpetrators’ photos, and lodge a complaint, although I do not know how much it would be beneficial given the current state of affairs in our country with women feeling increasingly unsafe. I would request greater security during such large-scale events. A wonderful sporting experience was marred by the horrifying ending.