Lakshya Sen, Treesa-Gayathri enjoy strong crowd support as fans return to India Open

New Delhi, Jan 17: The nation's biggest international badminton event, Indian Open, saw fans return to the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at the iconic IG Stadium in the national capital for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. While the likes of PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy have enjoyed the boisterous crowd in the past at the a BWF World Tour Super 750 event, the younger generation of Indian badminton loved to see fans backing them in numbers.

"This is my first experience playing at homeground in front of such a crowd," said 19-year-old Treesa Jolly after her women's doubles tie with partner Gayathri Gopichand. "The pressure will already go down when they back you like that."

With the home support behind them, the CWG bronze medallist duo defeated French pair Anne Tran and Margot Lambert 22-20, 17-21, 21-18 in the opening round to reach the pre-quarters. The chants of 'Maaro Treesa', 'Maaro Gayathri' could be heard from the crowd every now and then and it did make the teenage pair's day.

"It works for me," said Gayathri. "It feels good when they instruct you like that from the crowd. It pumps you up from the inside, you get that boost."

Lakshya Sen can't wait to get full crowd support at India Open

The support, however, was divided for defending champion Lakshya Sen, who defeated India's No. 1 HS Prannoy in straight games 21-14, 21-15 to lay a strong claim to retain the title once again.

"Last year when I played here, there was no fans allowed so it was nice to play with so much crowd," said the 2022 All England finalist. "There's lot of support and I am excited to play a foreign opponent, where all the support is for me because today the fans were divided."

The World No. 10 Indian will surely be needing all the support in the next game as he faces Denmark Rasmus Gemke, who must be feeling bullish after defeating the great Kento Momota in straight games 21-15, 21-11 earlier in the morning.

India Open Day 1 key results

(Men's singles) Rasmus Gemke (DEN) bt Kento Momota (JPN) 21-15, 21-11; 7-Lakshya Sen (IND) bt HS Prannoy (IND) 21-14, 21-15; Shi Yu Qi (CHN) bt Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo (INA) 20-22, 21-16, 21-15; 4-Jonatan Christie (INA) bt Brian Yang (CAN) 21-14, 21-9; 5-Chou Tien Chen (TPE) bt Lee Cheuk Yiu (HKG) 22-20, 14-21, 21-11.

(Women's singles) Carolina Marin (ESP) bt Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) 21-13, 21-18; 6-Ratchanok Intanon (THA) bt Goh Jin Wei (MAS) 21-13, 21-11

(Men's Doubles) 5-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (IND) bt Christopher Grimley/Matthew Grimley (SCO) 21-13, 21-15

(Women's doubles) Gayatri Gopichand/Treesa Jolly (IND) bt Margot Lambert/Anne Tran (FRA) 22-20, 17-21, 21-18; Linda Efler/Isabel Lohau (GER) bt Shruti Mishra/Sikki Reddy (IND) 21-17, 21-19; 6-Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu (CHN) bt Ashna Roy/Haritha MH (IND) 21-4, 21-2.