Press Trust of India
Jakarta, August 10: Shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy warmed up for bigger battles ahead with straight-game victories in the opening round of the prestigious World Badminton Championships which started here Monday.
Kashyap, seeded 10th, defeated Erik Meijs 21-17, 21-10 of the Netherlands to set up a clash with Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
Indonesia Masters winner Prannoy, who is making a comeback after being sidelined due to a foot injury, disposed of Brazil’s Alex Yuwan Tjong 21-12, 21-16 to start his campaign on a positive note. The 11th seed will next take on Uganda’s Edwin Ekiring.
However, in mixed doubles it turned out to be a bad day for Indian shuttlers. Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan suffered a close 18-21, 21-10, 22-24 loss to the Russian pair of Evgenij Dremin and Evgenia Dimova, while Tarun Kona and Sikki N Reddy went down 13-21, 17-21 against Liao Min Chun and Chen Hsiao Huan of Chinese Taipei.
After his win Kashyap said, “I think today (Monday) was a okay match. Just felt the conditions were tough at the start of the match but got a good rhythm at the end.”
Prannoy, post his victory over Tjong, said, “Good to be back on winning ways after injury. Was rusty in the second game but had to change the game to attacking mode and then I got my rhythm back. Good first round for me.”
