India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty and Ayush Shetty advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships here on Wednesday, while Lakshya Sen suffered a shock second-round defeat to USA’s Garret Tan.
The fifth-seeded Satwik-Chirag received a walkover from Scotland’s Alexander Dunn and Adam Pringle, while Ayush Shetty produced a dominant 21-8, 21-10 win over Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama in the men’s singles round of 32.
Former World Championships bronze medallist Sen, however, made an early exit after losing 21-19, 19-21, 17-21 to Tan in a hard-fought contest.
Tan Stuns Lakshya Sen
Sen started strongly and edged a closely contested opening game after the players remained locked at 18-18.
But Tan stepped up his attacking game after the change of ends, using his pace, overhead smashes and deception to trouble the Indian. He repeatedly targeted Sen’s backhand rear corner and levelled the match by taking the second game 21-19.
The American carried the momentum into the decider, racing to a 12-4 lead.
Sen refused to give up and fought his way back to 15-17, with the 17th point coming after a long rally that ended with Tan falling awkwardly and taking a medical timeout.
Tan responded immediately with a jump smash to make it 18-16.
Sen then served long before Tan produced a cross-court smash to earn four match points. Sen stayed alive with a flurry of attacking shots, but slipped while approaching a shot at the front court in the next rally, allowing Tan to put the shuttle away and complete a memorable victory.
Satwik-Chirag Get Walkover
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced without taking the court after their Scottish opponents withdrew.
The fifth seeds had received a first-round bye and were scheduled to face Dunn and Pringle in the second round.
However, Dunn suffered a right ankle injury while playing his mixed doubles match earlier in the day and the Scottish pair subsequently pulled out.
Dunn and Julie Macpherson were trailing Thailand’s second seeds Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai 8-18 when the injury occurred.
Satwik and Chirag, who have already won two bronze medals at the World Championships, will now prepare for their pre-quarterfinal challenge.
Ayush Shetty Continues Impressive Run
Ayush Shetty continued his campaign with a commanding straight-game victory over Dumindu Abeywickrama.
The Indian dominated from the opening exchanges, keeping his Sri Lankan opponent under pressure and closing out the round-of-32 match 21-8, 21-10.
The victory puts Shetty into the pre-quarterfinals of the prestigious tournament on home soil.
Tanisha-Dhruv Through, Unnati Out
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila also booked their place in the last 16 with a comfortable 21-11, 21-11 win over Macau’s Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi.
However, Unnati Hooda’s debut at the World Championships ended in disappointment.
The young Indian squandered an opening-game advantage before going down 21-11, 9-21, 21-23 to 12th seed Michelle Li of Canada in the women’s singles round of 32.
Men’s doubles pair Hariharan Amsakarunan and MR Arjun also bowed out after losing 17-21, 14-21 to Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju.
With several Indians still alive in the competition, the hosts will look to build on Wednesday’s positive results as the World Championships enter the knockout stages.
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