The Indian shuttlers are currently performing their way through the second round of the prestigious BWF World Championships. Round of 32 is in the processing and it has reaped mixed results until now. While the shuttling prodigy Lakshya Sen has conquered this round too, Srikant Kidambi has made an unexpected early exit.
Lakshya Sen cruised to the pre-quarterfinals as he defeated Luís Enrique Peñalver of Spain in straight games of 21-17, 21-10. Sen’s performance lately has been blazing and the opponents seem to lack any answers to his smashes. With PV Sindhu missing out and Srikant out too, Lakshya Sen is India’s best bet at a podium finish in the tournament.
Srikant Kidambi bowed down to Zhao Jun Peng of China. The Chinese shuttler delivered a defeat to Kidambi in straight games of 21-9, 21-17. Early in the day, the women’s doubles pair Ashwini Ponappa/Sikki Reddy also received a defeat at the hands of Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan of China. The duo is now out of the championship facing a defeat in straight games of 21-15, 21-10.
Moreover, the young pair of Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Pullela are also out losing in the second round. Tan Pearly/Thinaah Muralitharan of Malaysia beat the duo by 21-8, 21-17. This same duo also beat Treesa and Gayatri in the recently concluded Commonwealth games and is turning out to be a true nightmare for the Indian duo.
In a positive move, however, the men’s doubles pair M.R. Arjun/Dhruv Kapila have crossed another round. The duo beat Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarun of Denmark by 21-17, 21-16. Games of major players like H.S Prannoy, and S. Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty are yet to start. Hopefully, they’ll deliver an impressive performance to move forward in the tournament along. Moreover, Saina Nehwal has already made a place in the pre-quarterfinal, courtesy of a bye. The mixed doubles pair Tanisha Crasto and Ishan Bhatnagar have exited the championship after losing in the round of 32.
Day 3 updates from BWF World Championships
With a comfortable win over Spaniard, @lakshya_sen books his berth in pre-quarters of the #BWFWorldChampionships2022 😎💪
Keep it up champ! 🔥#BWFWorldChampionships#BWC2022#Tokyo2022#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/LBNx2WkZsC
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) August 24, 2022
Women’s Doubles
- Ashwini Ponappa/ Sikki Reddy lost to Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (21-15, 21-10)
- Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Pullela lost to Tan Pearly Thinaah Muralitharan (21-8, 21-17)
- Pooja Dandu/Sanjana Santosh lost to Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan (21-15, 21-7)
- Ashwini Bhat K./Shikha Gautam against Kim So Yeong/Kong Hee Yong (Yet to play)
Men’s Doubles
- M.R. Arjun/ Dhruv Kapila beat Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup (21-17, 21-16)
- Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty against Jonathan Solis/Anibal Marroquin (yet to play)
Men’s Singles
- Kidambi Srikant lost to Zhao Jun Peng (21-9, 21-17)
- Lakshya Sen beat Luís Enrique Peñalver (21-17, 21-10)
- H.S Prannoy against Kento Momota (Yet to play)
