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It was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers on the 2nd day of the BWF World Championship 2018 played at Nanjing, China on Tuesday. Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth had no problems in defeating their opponents while Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty played brilliant badminton to defeat the Rio Olympic bronze medallists.
In women’s singles, Saina Nehwal took on Turkey's Aliye Demirbag. Despite not having a great start, the Indian star shuttler, worked hard and led 11-10 at the interval. After the interval, Saina Nehwal played with aggression, winning the first set 21-17.
It was a dominating performance by the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who dominated her and won the second set 21-8 to progress into the third round. She will face Ratchanok Intanon in the third round.
Kidambi Srikanth also had no problems in defeating Nhat Nguyen 21-15, 21-16 to progress into the 2nd round. He will face Spain's Pablo Abian.
Mixed fortunes in doubles for India
The Indian shuttlers had mixed fortunes in the doubles section. Rankieddy and Shetty took on Rio Olympic bronze medallists Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge. The match was a close-fought one.
In the first game, Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were trailing 9-13 but took points in succession. Both teams took alternate points till 19-19. The Indian pair held their nerves to win the first set 21-19.
In the second game, Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge dominated the Indian pair, winning it 21-12 to force the match into a decider. The decider game was again a close-fought match with both pairs fighting for each point. Rankireddy and Shetty held their nerves to win the game 21-19. They will take on Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders in the second round.
The mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponappa and Rankireddy fought back very well after losing the first set 10-21 to Germany's Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich. The Indian pair came back strongly to win the next two games 21-17, 21-18 to progress into the 3rd round. They will face Malaysian pair of Gooh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai.
In the women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponappa and Sikki Reddy defeated Chiang Kai Hsin and Hung Shih Han in three sets. The Indian pair lost a close-fought first game 19-21 before winning the next two games 21-10, 21-17 to progress into the 2nd round. They will face Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva.
In other results, Pranav Chopra and Sikki Reddy lost in two straight games to Hafiz Faizal and Widjaja 16-21, 4-21. Chris and Gabrielle Adcock defeated the Russian Open runners-up Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg in straight games 21-12, 21-12.
In another women’s doubles match, Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun defeated Kuhoo Garg and Hazarika 21-19, 21-12.
Tarun Kona and Saurabh Sharma lost to OR Chin Chung and Tang Chun Man in three sets. The Hong Kong pair won the first set 22-20 before the Indian pair bounced back to win the 2nd set 21-18. In the third set, the Hong Kong pair won it 21-17 to progress into the next round. Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh lost to Malaysian Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying 18-21, 11-21.
