All England Badminton Championship 2021: Indian shuttlers performance on day 1
It was a good day outing for the Indian shuttlers as most of
them made it into the 2nd round of the prestigious Super 1000 All
England Badminton Championship played at Birmingham, England on Wednesday.
Men’s Singles
India’s top male shuttler Kidambi Srikanth was shocked by
Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in three games. It was an even start for both players
taking alternate points before Nguyen showed his class and put the Indian under
pressure with his smashes. At the mid-game interval, Ireland player had an 11-6
lead. After the break, the Irish player continued his domination and won the
first game easily at 21-11.
Kidambi Srikanth made a strong comeback in the second game
putting the Irish under immense pressure and winning it easily at 21-15 forcing
the match into the decider. In the decider, the Indian could not provide any
resistance and lost the 3rd game easily at 12-21.
Parupalli Kashyap lost to World number 1 Kento Momota of
Japan in two straight games. In the opening game, Momota looked in decent touch
taking a commanding 7-1 lead. Kashyap returned strongly taking 6 successive
points to level the score at 7-7 and continued till 9-9. At the mid-game break,
Momota led 11-9. After the break, the Japanese did not allow the Indian a sniff
and won the first game easily at 21-13.
The second game also saw Momota starting with aggression and
putting the Indian under pressure taking a lead at the interval. After the break,
the Japanese were cruising but Kashyap made a strong comeback to level it.
Despite Kashyap’s effort, Momota won the 2nd game at 22-20 to move
into the second round.
In other men’s singles matches, HS Prannoy defeated Darren
Liew in two straight games. It was an even start as both players took alternate
points before Prannoy showed his class and took an 11-8 lead at the interval.
After the break, Prannoy was in great form winning the first game easily at
21-10.
The second game was also a one-sided affair as the Indian
played with aggression and won it easily at 21-10 to move into the 2nd
round. He will take on Kento Momota of Japan.
Sameer Verma moved into the second round by defeating Ygor
Coelho of Brazil in two straight games. Sameer started with aggression and kept
the pressure on the Brazil player right from the word go. Coelho showed some
fighting spirit, but the Indian took an 11-9 lead at the interval. After the
break, it was one-way traffic as Sameer won the first game easily by 21-11.
The second game was a close-fought contest as both players
fought for each point. Sameer Verma held his nerves to win it 21-19 to move
into the second round. He will take on Anders Antonsen of Denmark.
Sai Praneeth and Lakshya Sen won their first-round matches.
Praneeth defeated Toma Junior Popov of France in closely fought games by 21-18,
22-20 to move into the 2nd round. He will take on Victor Axselen of
Denmark.
Lakshya Sen cruised past through Kantaphon Wangcheraon of
Thailand in two straight games. The first game was a closely fought contest as
both players took alternate points before Sen took a slender 11-10 lead at the
interval. After the break, the fight continued but Sen won the first game at
21-18.
The second game saw Sen dominate the Thailand player and winning
it easily at 21-12 to move into the 2nd round. He will take on
Thomas Rouxel.
Women’s Singles
PV Sindhu had no problems defeating Sonila Cheah of
Malaysia in two straight games. The Indian started off brightly before
Malaysian leveled the score at 5-5. After the initial struggle, Sindhu played
with aggression and took an 11-7 lead at the interval. It was one-way traffic
for Sindhu as she dominated the Malaysian winning it 21-11.
The second game saw Sindhu again starting brightly before
the Malaysian fought back strongly. At the mid-game interval, the Indian had a
slender 11-10 lead. After the break, despite Malaysian resistance, Sindhu won
it easily at 21-17 to move into the second round. She will take on Line
Christophersen of Denmark.
Saina Nehwal did not provide any resistance as she lost to
Mia Bilcihdeft of Denmark in two straight games losing it 8-21, 4-10 before the
Indian had to retire hurt.
In the men’s doubles Satwiksairaj RankiReddy and Chirag
Shetty defeated Nikhar Garg and Aniruddha Mayekar of India in two straight
games. It was a dominating performance by Reddy and Chirag winning it 21-10,
21-7 to move into the 2nd round. They will face Kim Astrup and
Rasmussen of Denmark in the second round.
The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy
moved into the second round with straight games win over Aimsaard sisters of
Thailand winning it by 21-14, 21-12. They will take on Stefani and Gaberia Stoeva.
Sindhu and few others move into the second round of All England Badminton Championship 2021
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