B Sai Praneeth lost in a three-game hard-fought match while Indian players registered victories in women’s doubles and mixed doubles on the opening day of the World Badminton Championships here on Monday. Praneeth, the 2019 bronze medalist at the World Championships, gave a tough fight to world number four Cho Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei but ended up losing 15-21, 21-15, 15-21.
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Praneeth had a disappointing second year in a row in Tokyo. He was also initially ruled out during the Olympic Games last year. Meanwhile, former Commonwealth Games bronze medalists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy defeated Maldivian Aminath Nabiha Abdul Razzaq and Fatimath Nabaha Abdul Razzaq 21-7, 21-9 to enter the women’s doubles second round.
Ashwini and Sikki will face a tough challenge from top seeded Chinese pair of Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan in the second round.
In mixed doubles, the pair of Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar started their campaign on a positive note with a 21-13, 21-13 win over Germany’s Patrick Scheel and Franziska Volkmann in 29 minutes.
The Indian pair will next take on the 14th seeded pair of Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Supisara Pawsampran.