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Hyderabad Hunters

Day 1 Review of the BWF World Championships

By: Editor
Date: 20 Aug, 2019
Image Courtesy: Hyderabad Hunters
B Sai Praneeth, HS Pranoy, Srikanth Kidambi lead the Indian charge at the BWF World Championships in Basel, Switzerland as Team India had a near perfect start to the premier badminton tournament of the year. 

The only casualty of the day was Sameer Verma, who went down after leading a game to Singaporean sensation Loh Kean Yew 15-21 21-15 21-10.

But before the men’s singles came into the foreground, it was Meghana Jakkampudi/Poorvisha Ram who were out first of the Indians on court and they put together a stirring performance to win 21-10 21-18 in less than 30 minutes and book a second-round clash in the women’s doubles event.

Just as Meghana/Poorvisha left the stage, on Court #2, it was Sai Praneeth who took centerstage against Jason Anthony of Canada. His morale surely high after being nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award, Sai wasted little time in racing into the lead at 17-7, and the first game looked all but settled. But Jason was never going to go down without a fight, as he came back to close the gap to 18-16. Sai Praneeth, however, regained his composure and closed out the game 21-17.

The second game almost followed a similar pattern with Sai taking the lead, then allowing Jason to come back into the contest, before firmly shutting the door on the challenger.

HS Pranoy & Srikanth Kidambi – both had relatively more difficult outings. Both lost their respective opening games but came back stronger to finish on the winning note. HS Pranoy defeated Finnish challenger Eetu Heino 17-21 21-10 21-11. While Srikanth Kidambi overcame a stiff contest against the very impressive Nhat Nguyen 17-21 21-16 21-6. 

Elsewhere, Mark Caljouw went down fighting to Thai sensation Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-12 21-17. Both players went for the shots right from the word go, and it made for a hugely entertaining tie. Mark Caljouw was his usual, hardworking and irrepressible self, while Wangcharoen was sublime as always.

Lin Dan, Tommy Sugiarto, Lee Dong Keun, Anthony Ginting were some of the winners of the Men’s Singles, while Nitchaon Jindapol, Aya Ohori, and Busanan Ongbamrungphan advanced in the Women’s Singles.

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