NEW DELHI: Outside the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Saturday, the thermometer read 33 degrees Celsius. It wasn’t difficult to break into a sweat. The road that had been largely empty throughout the week was bustling, and the question on most lips was, ‘Where is Gate 7?’, ‘Bhaiya World Championships ke liye kaunsa gate hai?’ [Which gate for the BWF World Championships?]Inside the 15,000-seater facility, half of which was in use for the tournament, the AC had been cranked up. Coincidentally, it matched the intensity and atmosphere of the crowd that had filled the stadium to the brim.The occasion was the women’s doubles semi-final featuring Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Pullela Gopichand. For the 64 minutes that the Indians battled in a three-game contest, winning the first game, the crowd stayed behind them every step of the way.“Together we rise higher,” read a poster from a young fan that was later presented to Jolly. The poster, featuring both players, said, “Two rackets. One Dream. One Nation,” and that was the feeling inside the venue.
Treesa Jolly with a poster gifted by a young fan. (Photo Courtesy: Tanuj Lakhina)
“C’mon Pullela!” and “Jolly Jolly” rang out in sections whenever the Indian team earned a point. “Maar! Maar na!” echoed, without rehearsal, whenever the point was there for the taking and a smash looked inevitable. Equally loud were collective moans and “Noooos!” whenever the point went the way of the World No. 1 and top seeds Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning of China.Vadodara native Dr. Harshil was living every moment of it. After buying tickets weeks in advance, he took an overnight train from Gujarat and arrived earlier in the day for the World Championships. The fact that it was for a monumental occasion, India winning a medal for the 12th edition running, was a happy coincidence.
A packed Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium created an unforgettable atmosphere as Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand battled China’s top seeds in the BWF World Championships semi-finals. (Photo Courtesy: BAI)
Dr. Harshil doesn’t play badminton but stays abreast of the sport and watches every tournament on TV. Also a keen watcher of athletics, he was most enthused about the match featuring Chou Tien Chen and was inspired by the Taiwanese shuttler’s battle and recovery from colorectal cancer.But in that moment, as the vociferous crowd erupted and sat down near simultaneously, he couldn’t keep his eyes away from Court 1.The DJ would ring out at the breaks, celebrating every smash, every drop and every shot landing wide. As far as partisan crowds go, this was a living example. A set of dhols, placed in the second tier of the stadium, would make their presence felt every now and then.
India’s Gayatri Gopichand Pullela clicks a selfie with spectators during the match between India and China in the women’s doubles semifinal at the BWF Badminton World Championships at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, in New Delhi on Saturday. (ANI Photo)
In the second set, as the Chinese pairing started to pick up the lead and took advantage of rising errors from the Indians, the crowd intensity, somehow, only got louder. The defiance of the Indians on the court was being matched by the decibel level of the crowd.And by the third set, as the Chinese piled on the pressure, with the Indians losing their intensity and coherence, the crowd saw the effort wane. The fans had their voice at the start, but with the World No. 1s plucking points in a row, the spectators started to walk towards the exit doors.‘Focus. Believe. Together. Victory’ also read the poster that Treesa carried with her. On the day, the crowd believed in the 23-year-old Indians. It came together, and in massive numbers. The victory, however, eluded them and the fans. But the venue, which had been the butt of jokes during the India Open in January, had just made itself count.
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