Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Aug 22: On the first day of the BWF World Championships here on Monday, Sai Praneeth was unable to pass the opening test after losing in three games, while India recorded twin victories in the women’s and mixed doubles competitions. Praneeth, who won bronze in 2019 competition, gave it his best but lost in just over an hour against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, the fourth-ranked player in the world, 15-21 21-15 15-21.
Following his problems at the Olympic Games last year, where he competed without a proper coach or physio, Praneeth’s performance in Tokyo was yet another forgettable outing, leading him to eventually withdraw early.
However, after defeating Aminath Nabeeha Abdul Razzaq and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq of the Maldives 21-7, 21-9, previous Commonwealth Games bronze medalists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy advanced to the second round of the women’s doubles tournament.
In the second round, Ashwini and Sikki will have a difficult time defeating China’s top seeds Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan. Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar won the mixed doubles match in 29 minutes by defeating the German team of Patrick Scheiel and Franziska Volkmann 21-13, 21-13.
The 14th seeds Supak Jomkoh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand will be the next opponents for the Indian pair.
Later in the day, Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen, the silver and bronze medalists from the previous competition, and former world No. 8 HS Prannoy will compete.
