23 August,2017 08:46 AM IST | Glasgow | V Krishnaswamy
India's Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu leads the way with easy opening round victory; B Sai Praneeth and Ajay Jayaram make winning starts too
India's PV Sindhu returns to South Korea's Kim Hyo Min during their first round match at the BWF World Championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow yesterday. Sindhu won 21-16, 21-14. Pics/AFP
On a day when World No. 2 Lee Chong Wei's stunning first-round exit grabbed the spotlight, Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth, one of the Indian men on a roll this season, kept India's slate clean in the singles department at the Total World Championships at the Emirates Arena yesterday.
Also winning were Ajay Jayaram, while Saina Nehwal is the only Indian singles player who has not tasted any action so far. She will meet Sabrina Jaquet today.
Fourth-seeded Sindhu and 15th seed Sai Praneeth made short work of their respective rivals in straight games. They said they wanted to finish off the job as fast as possible to avoid any hiccups. Sindhu, the only Indian with two World Championships medals - both bronze in 2013 and 2014 - beat Kim Hyo Min 21-16, 21-14 in 49 minutes. Praneeth beat Wei Nan of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-17 in just a minute less.
India's B Sai Praneeth smashes one against Hong Kong's Wei Nan during their Round 1 tie yesterday
Tentative Praneeth
Praneeth was somewhat tentative in the early stages and even trailed for a while before pulling level at 13-all and 18-all. The Indian, who never allowed Wei to build a big lead won three consecutive points to seal the game.
The second was as tight before Praneeth led 7-5. But Wei kept coming back and the two were still locked close at 17-all, before Praneeth pulled ahead to win four straight points and the match. "He was trying to play long rallies to stop me from attacking. I was confused for a while, but then managed well. When he tried to attack, he was playing like I how I wanted him to. I wanted to finish early as he is not a very easy opponent," said Praneeth, 25, who next faces Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the second round.
Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, India's best hopes in doubles, defeated the Indo-Malaysian pair of Yogendran Khrishnan (Mas) and Prajakta Sawant, who has in the past played with both the Indians as her partners. Chopra and Sikki won 21-12, 21-19.
Two other mixed doubles pairs - Ashwini Ponnappa and B Sumeeth Reddy lost to China's Yilyu Wang and Dongping Huang, while Satwiksairaj and Maneesha K who won their first round, lost the second 20-22, 18-21 to Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Sara Thygesen.
India's Ajay Jayaram returns to Austrian Luka Wraber en route his 21-14, 21-12 first round win
Sindhu untroubled
Sindhu was not troubled by World No. 42 Korea's Hyo Min Kim, who did beat the Indian a year ago in Australia after having lost three times earlier. Sindhu kept her rival engaged in rallies and tired her out. "I saw she was tired and wanted to close it as matches in early rounds can sometimes turn around," said a smiling Sindhu.
Ajay Jayaram beat Austrian Luka Wraber 21-14 21-12 in 31 minutes and will next meet Dutchman Mark Caljouw.
In another women's singles encounter, national champion Rituparna Das beat Finland's Airi Mikkela, who retired after lagging 0-2 in the first game.
