India opened its campaign at the 2017 Badminton Asia Championships with mixed fortunes as the World No. 3 PV Sindhu entered the second round with a facile win while the eighth-ranked Saina Nehwal crashed out in Wuhan, China on Wednesday. The fourth-seeded Sindhu needed 31 minutes to brush aside World No. 33 Dinar Dyah Ayustine of Indonesia, 21-8, 21-18 to set up a clash with the Japanese World No. 15 Aya Ohori.
The seventh-seeded Saina, in contrast, eked out a tough opening game against the World No. 17 Sayaka Sato but the Japanese gained in confidence after that and closed out her first win over the Indian since 2011 with a 19-21, 21-16, 21-18 scoreline.
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Big upset win for Jayaram
But the biggest news from the Indian contingent was made by the country’s No. 1 men’s singles player, Ajay Jayaram. The World No. 13 put up a gutsy effort to upset the fifth seed and World No. 7 Tian Houwei of China, 21-18, 18-21, 21-19 in 1 hour 10 minutes.
Jayaram had never beaten the Chinese in two previous meetings. Considering that Houwei had come to this tournament on the back of winning the China Masters last Sunday, this was indeed a momentous feat by Jayaram. He next faces the World No. 32 Hsu Jen Hao of Chinese Taipei.
HS Prannoy, the second men’s singles player from India, went down fighting 16-21, 21-13, 19-21 to the eighth seed and Hong Kong Open Superseries champion NG Ka Long Angus in 1 hour 1 minute.
India, though, did not have much luck in the doubles. The mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy took a game off the top-seeded duo of Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen but the Chinese pulled off a 21-15, 14-21, 21-16 win in the end.
In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy succumbed to a 20-22, 16-21 defeat to Koreans Chae Yoo Jung and Kim So Yeong. Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram, the second team in women’s doubles, bowed out 11-21, 16-21 to the second seeds Jung Kyung Eun and Shin Seung Chan of Korea.
Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy – India’s sole entry in men’s doubles – were outplayed by the fifth-seeded Chinese Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan in the first game. The Indians put up a much better fight in the second game only to go down 9-21, 18-21.
