The BWF World Championships is the next most sought after crown by professional shuttlers after the Olympic gold medal. The 27th edition of the tournament went underway today at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gynasium in Tokyo, Japan.
The Indian contingent were in focus as they were expected to deliver after the Commonwealth glory they achieved in Birmingham.
First up on court 1 were the women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and Sikki Reddy. They needed just 21 minutes to defeat the Abdul Razzaq sisters from the Maldives. They won in straight games with a score of 21-7 21-9.
The next match featured Sai Praneeth as he was looking to find some form after being away with injury. It was another forgetful outing for the 2019 Bronze medalist as he succumbed to Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, the fourth seed. It was a tightly contested game that saw Chou edge out his opponent with a score of 21-15 15-21 21-15 in a match lasting an hour and 4 minutes.
Next up were the men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy. They were rather outclassed in the first game by their opponents, the Japanese combination of Hiroki Okamura and Masayuki Onodera. But they came back strongly in the second game to force a third and deciding game. But despite a good fight, they ended up crashing out of the tournament. The Japanese pair won 21-11 19-21 21-15.
Our next match saw the Commonwealth men’s singles champion Lakshya Sen take on Hans-Kristian Vittinghus who was playing in his 9th consecutive world championship. The Danish veteran though was not in the form of his life as he was edged out by Sen in straight games with a score of 21-12 21-11.
A lot of Indians out on court 1 today as next up we saw M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila take on the Thai pair of Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren. It was a thrilling encounter which saw the Indians take the first game in style. But the Thai pair fought back to level things. In the deciding game, the Indians had a 15-6 lead when they started to falter. The Thai pair played fantastic badminton to level things out at 19-19. Then Kapila was brave to hit a hard forehand drive off the Thai serve that gave them match point. But that Thai pair leveled again at 20-20. But the Indians did not lose their composure as they won the last game 22-20. They won the match with a final score of 21-17 17-21 22-20.
We move to court 2 and it was HS Prannoy taking on Luka Wraber of Austria. Prannoy wasted no time as he beat Wraber in straight games with a score of 21-12 21-11. Kidambi Srikanth also was on court 2 as he took on Vietnam born Irishman Nhat Nguyen. It was a tight encounter but Srikanth managed to win in 22-20 21-19.
Court 3 saw Malvika Bansod take on Line Christophersen of Denmark. The Dane was up to the task as she beat Bansod in straight games with a score of 21-14 21-12.
The women’s doubles pair of Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santhosh were also victorious on court 3 as they beat Peruvians Castillo Salazar and Torre Regal with a score of 21-6 10-21 21-14.
The mixed doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto were victorious on court 4 against the German pair of Patrick Scheiel and Franziska Volkmann whom they beat with a score of 21-12 21-13.
That wraps up the Indian performances today as we have both victory and defeat to share but the action continues tomorrow as seventh seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty play their opener tomorrow. Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand are also playing their first round. Saina Nehwal is also set to contest her first round against Cheung Ngan Yi of Hong Kong. Krishna Prasad Garaga and his partner Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala also open their account tomorrow.
Image credit: Twitter
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