Indian shuttlers Akshay
Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra came out
on top in a topsy-turvy opening match to
proceed to the men’s doubles second round of
the World Championships being held at the
9,200-seater Ballerup Super Arena here
Monday.
However, it was the end of the road for Tarun
Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa whose campaign
in the mixed doubles category came to a
crashing end on the first day of the sport’s
most prestigious tournament.
It was a neck-and-neck encounter in the first
game against Hong Kong pair Yun Lung Chan
and Chun Hei Lee but Dewalkar and Chopra did
well to stick it out and take home the first
game 21-19.
The second game was also pretty close at the
start but as it progressed, the World No.43
combine from Hong Kong kept extending their
lead to win the game 21-16 and level the
match.
Yun and Chun maintained most of the lead till
16-14 in the decider but the World No.39
Indians came out with a brilliant spurt to scalp
the next six points and have four matchpoints
at hand. However, Dewalkar and Chopra wasted
all four of them and the match was level once
more at 20-all.
The Indian pair managed to keep its nerves and
easily took the next two points to win the 54-
minute match. Next they will be up against
South Korean fifth seeds Ki Jung Kim and Sa
Rang Kim.
Earlier, Tarun and Ashwini had lost the first
game 16-21 to Danish World No.16 pair
Anders Kristiansen and Julie Houmann but
came back strongly in the second. The World
No.39 Indian combine gave a tough fight in
the second game but eventually went down
25-27 in a close match which lasted 46
minutes.
However, in some good news for Ashwini, she,
along with her women’s doubles partner Jwala
Gutta, got a walkover in their opener to enter
the second round as England’s Heather Olver
and Kate Robertshaw withdrew from the
tournament.
In the second round they have a tough match
ahead when they take on Chinese fifth seeds
Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao, who have an
unbeaten 6-0 record against Jwala and Ashwini.
Arun Vishnu-Aparna Balan (mixed doubles) and
Parupalli Kashyap (men’s singles) will play their
respective matches later in the day. http://us.india.com/sports/world-badminton-championships-shuttlers-akshay-dewalkar-and-pranaav-jerry-chopra-enter-second-round-at-copenhagen-129319/
Dewalkar and Pranaav Jerry Chopra came out
on top in a topsy-turvy opening match to
proceed to the men’s doubles second round of
the World Championships being held at the
9,200-seater Ballerup Super Arena here
Monday.
However, it was the end of the road for Tarun
Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa whose campaign
in the mixed doubles category came to a
crashing end on the first day of the sport’s
most prestigious tournament.
It was a neck-and-neck encounter in the first
game against Hong Kong pair Yun Lung Chan
and Chun Hei Lee but Dewalkar and Chopra did
well to stick it out and take home the first
game 21-19.
The second game was also pretty close at the
start but as it progressed, the World No.43
combine from Hong Kong kept extending their
lead to win the game 21-16 and level the
match.
Yun and Chun maintained most of the lead till
16-14 in the decider but the World No.39
Indians came out with a brilliant spurt to scalp
the next six points and have four matchpoints
at hand. However, Dewalkar and Chopra wasted
all four of them and the match was level once
more at 20-all.
The Indian pair managed to keep its nerves and
easily took the next two points to win the 54-
minute match. Next they will be up against
South Korean fifth seeds Ki Jung Kim and Sa
Rang Kim.
Earlier, Tarun and Ashwini had lost the first
game 16-21 to Danish World No.16 pair
Anders Kristiansen and Julie Houmann but
came back strongly in the second. The World
No.39 Indian combine gave a tough fight in
the second game but eventually went down
25-27 in a close match which lasted 46
minutes.
However, in some good news for Ashwini, she,
along with her women’s doubles partner Jwala
Gutta, got a walkover in their opener to enter
the second round as England’s Heather Olver
and Kate Robertshaw withdrew from the
tournament.
In the second round they have a tough match
ahead when they take on Chinese fifth seeds
Qing Tian and Yunlei Zhao, who have an
unbeaten 6-0 record against Jwala and Ashwini.
Arun Vishnu-Aparna Balan (mixed doubles) and
Parupalli Kashyap (men’s singles) will play their
respective matches later in the day. http://us.india.com/sports/world-badminton-championships-shuttlers-akshay-dewalkar-and-pranaav-jerry-chopra-enter-second-round-at-copenhagen-129319/
