Copenhagen: London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal stormed into the third round of the World Badminton Championship with a commanding straight game win over Natalia Perminova of Russia in women’s singles on Tuesday.
Saina, seeded seventh, took just 31 minutes to dispose off Perminova 21-11, 21-9. The Indian had earlier got a bye in the first round.
She will next play the winner of the match between 13th seed Sayaka Takahashi of Japan and Bulgaria’s Petya Nedelcheva.
Another Indian in the fray in women’s singles, 11th seed P V Sindhu will take on Russia’s Olga Golovanova in the second round on Wednesday after she, too, got a bye in the opening round.
In men’s singles, Ajay Jayaram also progressed to the second round after receiving a walkover from fourth seed and higher-rated Kenichi Tago of Japan.
Jayaram will next face Thai shuttler Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, who defeated Scotland’s Kieran Merrilees 21-16 21-17 in his opening round.
However, it turned out to be a disappointing outing for Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap as he crashed out in the first round of the men’s singles event after suffering a shocking defeat against Dieter Domke of Germany on Monday.
The world number 27 Indian, who had clinched the biggest title of his career at Glasgow early this month, played his heart out before going down fighting 24-26 21-13 18-21 in a nerve-wrecking battle of attrition which lasted an hour and seven minutes.
But the Indian mixed doubles pair of Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan crossed the opening hurdle, beating Brazilian combination of
Hugo Arthuso and Fabiana Silva 21-12 21-14. They will next take on sixth seed German pair of Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels.
The men’s doubles combo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar eked out a 21-19 16-21 22-20 win over Hong Kong’s Yun Lung Chan and Chun Hei Lee. The Indian pair will take on fifth seeds Ki Jung Kim and Sa Rang Kim of Korea.
Kashyap, who had lost to Domke during the Thomas Cup in New Delhi last May, squandered a 14-10 lead in the opening game before the German gained the upperhand at the 9,200-seater Ballerup Super Arena.
The Indian dished out a dominating performance in the second game as he opened up a narrow 6-4 lead early on and staved off the challenge from the German, who came as close to 12-13 at one point, to draw level.
In the decider, Kashyap was lagging 7-11 but the Indian caught up with his rival at 13-13 and 17-17. However, Domke ensured he didn’t lose any more ground to the Indian before sealing the issue in his favour.