Glasgow: India’s P.V. Sindhu, B. Sai Praneeth, Ajay Jayaram and the mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy advanced but the mixed doubles pairing of B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost in the second round of the World Badminton Championships on Tuesday.
Fourth seed Sindhu, a two-time World Championships bronze medallist, moved past South Korean Kim Hyo-min 21-16, 21-14 in 49 minutes. Praneeth got the better of Hong Kong’s Wei Nan 21-18, 21-17, while Jayaram crushed Austrian Luka Wraber 21-14, 21-12 in 31 minutes.
In the mixed doubles competitions, Sumeeth-Ashwini lost to Chinese 13th seed Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping 17-21, 21-18, 5-21 in 58 minutes.
The Pranaav and Sikki duo brushed aside Malaysian Yogendran Khrishnan and Indian Prajakta Sawant 21-12, 21-19 in 40 minutes.
Another mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and K. Maneesha too exited the competition with a 20-22, 18-21 loss to Danish 14th seed Mathias Christiansen and Sara Thygesen.
Lee Chong Wei saved two match-points against Brice Leverdez of France but not a third as he was upset in the first round. The Malaysian star fell 21-19, 22-24, 21-17, for the first time losing in the opening round in 10 worlds, and to a non-seed.
“I put more pressure on myself and I made a lot of mistakes,” Lee said.
Runner-up at three worlds and both Olympics since 2011, Lee put off retirement after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to try and win an elusive world championship. He even lured back his old coach, Misbun Sidek, in July after a six-year separation to work on his mental side. Sidek guided him to No. 1 in the world for the first time in 2006.
But Lee looked nervous and was outplayed at the net for much of the 75-minute match with Leverdez, against whom he had a 7-1 record.
Lee led 19-18 in the first game but lost it with three consecutive unforced errors.
In the second, he rallied from 18-13 down to lead 20-18. Leverdez levelled, then had two match points and thought he won the second. But Lee challenged the “out” call against him on the line at the umpire’s feet, and was saved by video replay, which showed the shuttlecock was in by a millimetre.
Lee had momentum in the third game, and won a rally including a shot between his legs from the baseline. But he couldn’t shrug off the unfazed Leverdez, who went ahead on three unforced errors by Lee and finished off the second seed with another smash at the net.
Leverdez said the difference was in his head.
