Day 3 of the 27th edition of the BWF World Championships was underway today at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. Our Indian shuttlers continue to make progress in the tournament.
Among the matches to be played today, Indian fans were particularly awaiting the court 1 encounter between HS Prannoy and two time world champion and home favorite Kento Momota. Prannoy and Momota had played 7 times before with the Japanese winning all the prior matches. Prannoy had only taken one game from Momota in their head-to-head battles.
But Prannoy this year has looked more wiser and fitter as he has put up promising performances so far. Today was to be no exception as the Indian shuttler caused a big upset by defeating Momota in straight games. Prannoy was disciplined in his attack and that made the difference. Both players put up some amazing rallies. But Prannoy was superior in attacking up front and it proved too much for Momota at the end. The match took 54 minutes to complete with Prannoy winning with a score of 21-17 21-16. A sad end to the tournament for Momota as he seeks ways to recuperate mentally and find form after a couple of rough years recently.
Onto the other games as we had women’s doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponappa and Sikki Reddy taking on the Chinese world number 1 pair of Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yifan. The Chinese pair proved why they were at the top of the pile as they won in straight games 21-15 21-10.
Out on court 2, it was the men’s doubles pair of M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila playing their second round match against the eight seeds from Denmark, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. The Indians capitalized from their performance in the first round to go a step better as they sealed this one in straight games as they won 21-17 21-16. They will face Singapore’s Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean in the third round.
Women’s doubles was up next as Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand faced off against the tenth seeds from Malaysia, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. The Malaysians produced a dominant performance to see the Indians through 21-8 21-17. It was a similar fate for the other women’s doubles pair of Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santhosh as they went down to the Korean duo and third seeds Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan with a score of 21-15 21-7.
The other remaining women’s doubles encounter saw Ashwini Bhat and Shikha Gautam face the fourth seeds from Korea, Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong. A one sided first game saw the Koreans win 21-5. But the Indians fought back in style to take the second 21-18. However it wasn’t meant to be as the Koreans reigned supreme in the decider as they took it 21-13.
Out on court 3, Lakshya Sen took on his second round opponent from Spain, Luis Enrique Penalver. Sen was up to the task as he won in straight games with a score of 21-17 21-10. He will face HS Prannoy in the third round.
But luck was not so favorable for Kidambi Srikanth as he went down in rather disappointing fashion against Chinese player Zhao Jun Peng. Zhao won in straight games with a score of 21-9 21-17.
Commonwealth gold medalist men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kickstarted their World Championship campaign against their second round opponents from Guatemala, Solis Jonathan and Anibal Marroquin. The Indians needed just 24 minutes to get through as they won with a score of 21-8 21-10. They will face the Danish pair of Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede in the third round.
Mixed emotions today as we have seen the highs and the lows. But nevertheless, tomorrow will prove to be another exciting day as round of 16 matches are set to take place. Saina Nehwal will be up against 12th seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand.
Image credit: Badminton Photo via BWF
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