jakarta, August 11: Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy warmed up for bigger battles ahead with straight-game victories in the opening round of the World Badminton Championship.
Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap, seeded 10th, defeated Netherlands’ Erik Meijs 21-17 21-10 to set up a clash with Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Minh in the men’s singles competition 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 take on Uganda’s Edwin Ekiring in the next round.
But the mixed doubles pair of 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 another pair of Tarun Kona and Sikki Reddy too went down 21-13 21-17 against Liao Min Chun and Chen Hsiao Huan of Chinese Taipei.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and two-time bronze medal winner PV Sindhu will start their campaigns tomorrow. After his win against Meijs, Kashyap said, “I think it was an ok match. Just felt the conditions were tough at the start of the match but I got into a good rhythm at the end. My opponent played well at the start. The next match will be tougher, so need to prepare well for it.” Prannoy said: “Good to be back on winning ways after the injury. I was rusty in the second game but had to get into the attacking mode. Then I got my rhythm back. A Good first round for me. I need to trust myself and enjoy the next round too, without putting extra pressure on myself. I have never played him (Ekiring) but he is a good player. I can not take him easily and I need to be on my toes.”