After a disappointing Day 1 at the BWF World Championships in Paris, there was something to smile for the Indian contingent on Tuesday. PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy and Rohan Kapoor/Ruthvika Gadde won their opening matches to march into the Round of 32.
It was a bad Monday for badminton lovers of the country a day earlier, as Lakshya Sen, Swetaparna Panda/Rutuparna Panda and Priya Konjengbam/Shruti Mishra bowed out in the opening round.
Women’s Singles
Sindhu, facing the lower-ranked Kaloyana Nalbantova of Bulgaria, won 23-21, 21-6. As the scoreline suggests, Nalbantova played out of her skin in the first game and almost shocked the former World Championship gold medallist.
It was a thrilling contest between the 69th ranked Nalbantova and the 15th seed. From the very start, Nalbantova took control and took a 4-0 lead. At the interval, she was 11-7 up. After the break, Sindhu staged a comeback and levelled the scores at 17-17. She had to save a game point also. Finally, Sindhu held her nerve.
The second game saw Sindhu’s ruthless domination. The Bulgarian had no answer to Sindhu’s smashes and placements. Next up for the Indian is Karupathevan Letshanaa of Malaysia.
Men’s Singles
Prannoy defeated Joakim Oldorff of Finland 21-18, 21-15 in a 47-minute battle. The first game started with both players exchanging points. Prannoy was leading 11-9 at the break. After that, the Finnish shuttler made it 17-17. Prannoy staged a good performance towards the end to close the game out.
In the second game, Prannoy was leading from the start. He will face a tough challenge against world No. 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the next round.
Mixed Doubles
The mixed doubles pair of Rohan and Ruthvika faced Macau’s Leong Iok Chong and Ng Wrong Chi. The Indian pair lost the first game 18-21, but made a good comeback by winning the second 21-16.
In the decider, the scores were level at 13-13. At this point, the Indians showed stronger nerves and won 21-18. They will face the world No. 4 pair of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia in the Round of 32.