Glasgow: India started their campaign in style as they won seven matches out of their eight matches on the opening day of the BWF World Championships 2017 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on Monday.
India, which has sent their largest-ever contingent to the tournament this year, saw top shuttlers having an easy day on the court.
In the men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma were in action. Srikanth, who is one of the favourites to win the crown, faced Russia’s Sergey Sirant, who was looking to create an upset. The Indian comfortably won the contest in 29 minutes as he defeated Sirant 21-13 21-12. Srikanth will next face be France’s Lucas Corvee.
A very good start to the world championships and a much needed straight sets win. #1stround #straightsetswin #teamindia #believe #achieve pic.twitter.com/Ghxchgxgth
— Kidambi Srikanth (@srikidambi) August 21, 2017
?#2017BWF | India superstar @srikidambi talks after he got his Worlds campaign under way with a 21-12 21-13 in Glasgow today @BAI_Media pic.twitter.com/tlUYNxeiax
— Yonex All England (@YonexAllEngland) August 21, 2017
Sameer Verma, who is the only unseeded Indian in the draw, also recorded a comfortable win over Spain’s Pablo Abian. Verma won the first game convincingly at 21-8, with the second one cut short at 17-4, as the Spaniard could not continue.
Tanvi Lad and Rituparna Das were also in action in women’s singles. Lad had to fight her way into the second round as she won her match in three games against England’s Chloe Birch
Birch won the first game 21-17 but Lad fought back to take the second 21-10 before holding her nerve to clinch the decider 21-19 in 56 minutes. The Mumbai shuttler will now face Sung Ji Hyun, the second seed, in the second round.
Rituparna had an easy passage into the second round after her Finnish opponent Airi Mikkela withdrew in just the second minute of the match. The world number 46 will now face local favourite Kirsty Gilmour in the next round.
In the women’s doubles section, the pairing of Sanjana Santosh and Arathi Sara Sunil picked up an impressive victory over Ukrainia’s Natalya Voytsekh and Yelyzaveta Zharka. The Indian duo recorded a fine 21-15, 21-18 victory.
There was some disappointment in the men’s doubles section for India as the unseeded pair of Manu Atri and Sumeeth Reddy lost in straight games against Korean pair of Chung Eui Seok and Kim Dukyong. The Koreans won the match 22-20, 21-11.
In the he mixed doubles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and K Maneesha defeated Tam Chun Hei and NG Tsz Yau from Hong Kong 24-22, 21-17. The Indo- Malaysian pair of Prajakta Sawant and Yogendran Khrishnan came out victorious against the Chinese Taipei pair of Lu Ching Yao and Chiang Kai Hsin 21-15, 13-21, 21-18.
Sindhu, Ajay Jayaram and Sai Praneeth will kickstart their campaign on Tuesday.
