Weaned on stories about the YONEX All England ever since she was 11, Malvika Bansod couldn’t quite express what it felt to win a match on her debut at the world’s oldest tournament. That she beat Yeo Jia Min – who, just two weeks ago, had won the YONEX German Open 2024 – made it so much sweeter for the world No.28. Just last week, in the opening round of the Orleans Masters, Bansod had retired with stomach cramps.

“It’s amazing and it’s an honour to be part of history,” said the 23-year-old. “This is the most prestigious badminton tournament in the world. I don’t have words to describe how happy I am to have this amazing debut, to beat the German Open champion… I’m really happy. The tournament continues, and I want to keep my focus for the next match.

“It felt amazing (to enter the arena). I wanted to be part of the atmosphere and deliver my best. I started playing badminton when I was nine, and then I got aware of the All England when I was 11 or 12. Back then Ratchanok (Intanon) was then the world champion… since then I’ve wondered what it would be like to be part of the All England, and now it’s amazing to have played here and won, and that too against such a tough opponent.”

While Bansod was still in awe of her first All England experience, her compatriot Lakshya Sen, who has a strong record here, enjoyed a good start with a 75-minute win over late qualifier Su Li Yang, who was promoted from the reserves’ list on Monday.

“It was a tricky one,” said Sen. “I just got to know yesterday evening that I’m playing him. I was preparing for Koki Watanabe. But (Su Li Yang) is a tough opponent and I couldn’t find my rhythm in the first game… but I’m happy with the way I stuck in there. He’s quite an attacking player from the net, and he came in with a good approach. This is something for me to keep in mind, to start better.

“I started training with my coach Yoo Yong Sung three weeks back. Last week I was in Wimbledon to get used to the time difference. It has been a good month. With him, the intensity on court goes up. We worked a lot on footwork and trying to get the level up.”

It was a mixed day for India, with HS Prannoy falling to Toma Junior Popov and Tanisha Crasto/Ashwini Ponnappa crashing out to Hsieh Pei Shan/Hung En Tzu.

What They Said

“We went on court and we kept thinking too much. It felt very different compared to the other Super 1000 tournaments. We were nervous and excited and we didn’t start well.” – Polina Buhrova on her All England debut with Yevheniia Kantemyr

“Ka Long played very well today, he did a lot of great shots. I have to give him credit. He had great variety, and I couldn’t guess where his shots were going. Sometimes you have to accept these results. Life goes on.” – Lee Zii Jia after losing to Ng Ka Long

“I gained experience from the last few matches, so today I played more patiently. We tried to find my chances after long rallies. His coverage is very good, his arms are long, it’s not easy to break through his defence. You need a lot of variety to beat him. It was really meaningful to stop the losing streak to him.” – Ng Ka Long, after stopping a 5-0 losing streak to Lee Zii Jia

“Looking at the draw, we had mixed feelings. We like to fight strong opponents, but we do not wish to meet strong pairs in the first round of such a prestigious tournament. So we had to prepare ourselves. We know the mental preparation is most important; we had to give it our all and play really well.” – Lai Shevon Jemie after she and Goh Soon Huat beat Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran

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