World No.7 Sindhu defeated the shuttler from Slovakia 21-7, 21-9 in just 24 minutes. Lakshya had to battle past Kenta Nishimoto to move into the next round.
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Reigning world champion PV Sindhu started the defence of her title with a straight games victory over Martina Repsika on Tuesday at the ongoing BWF World Championships 2021 in Huelva, Spain. World No.7 Sindhu defeated the shuttler from Slovakia 21-7, 21-9 in just 24 minutes. Sindhu faced very little resistance from Repiska as she moved into the round of 16. Meanwhile in men’s singles, Lakshya Sen had to battle past Kenta Nishimoto to move into the next round. HS Prannoy shocked Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong 13-21, 21-18, 21-19 to go to the second round.
Sindhu raced to a 4-1 lead in the first game with some fine play. Repiska tried to comeback but the Indian didn’t let her as she went into the mid-break with a 11-4 lead. She kept on taking the points with ease and eventually pocketed the first game in just 10 minutes.
The second game was no different as the two-time Olympic medallist maintained a firm grip over the proceedings as she raced to a 6-0 lead in just 2 minutes. At mid break the Indian was leading 11-1 and completed the formality with a dominant performance.
Meanwhile Lakshya, who is making his debut in the competition defeated the 15th seed shuttler from Japan by 22-20, 15-21, 21-18 in a terrific match that lasted one hour and 22 minutes.
Earlier in the men’s doubles, India’s Chirag shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had to dig deep against Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Husan.
The Indian duo dropped five game points in the first game as Lee/Yang stretched the pair of Shetty-Rankireddy to their limit. But the eighth-seeded Indians managed to win 27-25. In the second game, Chirag and Satwik shifted gears and prevailed 21-17 winners.
Prannoy had to come from behind to beat the World No. 8 in a stunning match that lasted 71 minutes. Unseeded Prannoy will now face Daren Liew of Malaysia in the second round. After losing the first game, Prannoy dominated the shuttler from Hong Kong, taking a 7-0 lead and never looked back.
In the decider Prannoy was trailing 8-12 before he notched up three successive points to level the score with Angus at 17-17. It was a tight affair and the Indian kept his composure to win two big points at 19-18 to close the issue. In six meetings, this is Prannoy’s second win against Angus.
