2014 Badminton World Championships: Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra advance to second round in men's doubles

Akshay Dewalkar and Pranav Chopra in action in the first round

The Indian doubles pair of Akshay Dewelkar and Pranav Cherry Chopra defeated the lower ranked Hongkong pair of Yun Lung Chan and Chun Hei Lee 21-19, 16-21, 22-20 to enter the second round of Badminton World Championships, 2014.

The Indian pair’s world championship campaign started on a jittery note. In the 1st game, the Hongkong pair had an advantage at 17-14. With three consecutive points on Akshay serve, the Indian levelled the game at 17 all. The Indian pair then went on to win the first game 21-19 with the help of their opponent’s unforced errors .

The 2nd game again started with the same pattern as the first one. The Indian’s defensive tactics were not working and they became vulnerable to their opponent smashes. The Indian pair lost the second game 16-21.

The Hongkong pair had a hold on the 3rd game too, leading the Indian’s with four points at 15-11. Again good serves and change of tactics saw the Indian pair turn the game to their favour. They started keeping the shuttle near the net and attacked at the right moment. The Indian’s had four match points at 20-16 before losing all of them. A flick serve by Pranav sealed the 3rd game and the match for the Indian’s at 22-20.

The Indian duo next faces the number 5 seed of the tournament, the South Korean pair of Ki Jung Kim/Sa Rang Kim. The Indian pair had lost to them in their only meeting in the recently concluded Thomas and Uber Cup, 2014.

The Mixed doubles pair of Aparna Balan and Arun Vishnu also defeated their lower ranked Brazillian opponents in straight sets 21-12,21-14 in 23 minutes.

Earlier in the day,the Indian pair of Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponappa lost their opening mixed doubles match to Danish pair 16-21,25-27 in 46 minutes.