BWF World C’ships, Day 1 blog: Prannoy, Lakshya cruise into 2nd round; Srikanth battles through

Key updates:

• Lakshya Sen begins his campaign with an impressive straight-games win against the experienced Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.
• Srikanth was tested by Nhat Nguyen but came through in two tight games.
• HS Prannoy cruised through his match, to set up a cracking second round clash vs Kento Momota.
• Sai Praneeth gave it a good go vs world No 4 Chou Tien Chen, but goes down fighting in three games.
• Ashwini Ponnappa-Sikki Reddy enter second round with easy win, defending champions Chen/Jia await next.
  
• Tanisha Crasto-Ishaan Bhatnagar through to round of 32 in mixed doubles.
• Arjun MR-Dhruv Kapila reach the men’s doubles round of 32 with a thrilling win.
• Pooja Dandu-Sanjana Santosh reach women’s doubles 2nd round.
• Malvika Bansod bows out after a straight-games loss in the women’s singles round of 64.
• Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy lose in three games in the men’s doubles round of 64.

HS Prannoy in the mixed zone: Yes, the draw is really tough but no targets as such. But it is World Championships and if you have to win here you have to beat all the players out there. As simple as that. It is really important to have fun, playing in these kind of conditions. I am playing Momota tomorrow. It is going to be a fun match. I will have to have my plans for him. I think I am playing well, moving well. I just need to be in a very good zone to beat someone like Kento.

Loh Kean Yew, defending world champion, on Court 4 at the very end of the opening day, with no official stream to watch. And for that matter, the silver medallist in Srikanth too gets the same treatment. Bizarre are the ways of BWF sometimes.

Men’s singles, round of 64: A good day in the bottom quarter for the Indian Thomas Cup trio. Srikanth faces a tough test next against China’s Zhao Jun Peng. Prannoy takes on Momota. Lakshya has, on paper, the easiest second round match against Spain’s Luis Penalver.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 21-19 Nhat Nguyen: Srikanth comes through. Against an opponent he has had issues in the past, the former world No 1 faced a few nervy moments in both games but prevails 22-20, 21-19 in 52 minutes. Good battle, that.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 20-18 Nhat Nguyen: The Irishman makes it a 1-point game again but Srikanth comes up with a precise smash to have 2 match points.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 19-16 Nhat Nguyen: Timely couple of points for Srikanth.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 17-16 Nhat Nguyen: Yikes, an air shot by Srikanth, it’s a one-point game.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 17-15 Nhat Nguyen: Srikanth pulls ahead, Nhat closes the gap. Another error by the Indian when the Irish shuttler was in no position to return. Followed by an error on the crosscourt lift

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 14-11 Nhat Nguyen: Srikanth needs to be careful here. Another error at the end of a rally he controlled.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 14-10 Nhat Nguyen: Srikanth just misses the line with a smash that was there for the taking, and it is 10-14 instead of 15-9.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20, 11-5 Nhat Nguyen: Superb straight smash after a couple of nice crosscourt shots... that is classic Srikanth. A good lead in the interval.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India vs Peru: Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh complete their win in three games against the Peruvian pair. Will face LEE So Hee and SHIN Seung Chan [third seeds] next.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi 22-20 Nhat Nguyen: Good 1-2 on the return from Srikanth and he saves one game point... and has one of his own. And converts that to take the lead! That was close. A quiet fist pump by the Indian.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi vs Nhat Nguyen: Brilliant from Nhat again, another long rally and he clinches it by pushing Srikanth to the back court at pace.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi vs Nhat Nguyen: Both players guilty of soft errors in this one... Sri leads 19-18. Oh, on cue, a fantastic rally. Nguyen takes that, 19-19.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi vs Nhat Nguyen: The Indian is clawing his way back... up 18-17 now.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi vs Nhat Nguyen: Tricky, indeed. Srikanth trails 9-11 at the mid-game interval of the opening game... and it is now 10-13.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India vs Peru: The second game goes Peruvian’s way.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Srikanth Kidambi vs Nhat Nguyen: Time for 2021 silver medallist to begin his campaign in 2022. Srikanth Kidambi takes on Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen. The Irish has been a tricky customer for Srikanth in the past. The H2H is 2-2 between the two, with Nhat defeating Srikanth in their last meeting at All England 2021.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India vs Peru: Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh take the opening game against Peru’s Ines Lucia Castillo Salazar and Paula La Torre Regal rather comfortably. 21-6.

Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh are in action in women’s doubles.

Men’s singles, round of 32: There we go, Prannoy vs Momota confirmed for the second round.

Men’s singles, round of 64: Mexico’s Munoz certainly not making this easy for Momota. The 2nd seed has a 11-10 lead in the interval.

Men’s singles, round of 64, HS Prannoy 21-12, 21-11 Luka Wraber: Comfortable win for HS Prannoy! The Indian cruises through his opening match in 34 minutes against Luka Wraber. And that is as easy as it is going to get in this quarter of death. Likely next opponent? Kento Momota, who is leading by a game on main court.

Men’s singles, round of 64, HS Prannoy 21-12 Luka Wraber: Continuing to remain in control is HS Prannoy, up 13-9 in the 2nd game.

Men’s singles, round of 64, HS Prannoy 21-12 Luka Wraber: Comfortable in the end for Prannoy as he takes the lead in this match.

Men’s singles, round of 64, HS Prannoy vs Luka Wraber: After a close start at 6-6, Prannoy has opened up a decent lead at 14-11. No streaming for this one.

It is time now for HS Prannoy to begin his campaign. He takes on Austria’s Luka Wraber in the men’s singles round of 64.

Men’s singles round of 64, Arjun-Dhruv 21-17, 17-21, 22-20 Jomkoh-Kedren: They have done it! Arjun-Dhruv win a thrilling match to reach the second round. They took the difficult route after leading 15-6 in the third game but credit to them for holding their nerves and closing it out.

Men’s singles round of 64, Arjun-Dhruv 21-17, 17-21, 16-16 Jomkoh-Kedren: The Indians were up 15-6 but the Thai pair has somehow managed to draw level. This is heading towards a fascinating finish. Can Arjun-Dhruv regroup and close this out?

Men’s singles round of 64, Arjun-Dhruv 21-17, 17-21, 11-5 Jomkoh-Kedren: The Indians have a solid lead at the third game interval. They carried forward the momentum they had built towards the end of the second game and are in the driver’s seat now.

Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen’s second-round opponent has been decided...

Men’s singles round of 64, Arjun-Dhruv 21-17, 17-21 Jomkoh-Kedren: We’re going to a decider. The Thai pair pulled well ahead in the second game before closing it out. But the Indians can take confidence from the fact that they won seven of the last 10 points in that game. Tough to pick a winner here.

Men’s singles round of 64, Arjun-Dhruv 21-17, 8-11 Jomkoh-Kedren: The Thai pair pulled away after the score got to 7-all in the second game and they have a considerable lead now at the interval. The Indians seem to be struggling a bit with the drift.

Men’s singles round of 64, Arjun-Dhruv 21-17 Jomkoh-Kedren: First game in the bag for the Indians. It got to 15-all but Arjun-Dhruv were composed from thereon and pulled away before sealing the game. The Thai pair will be determined to draw level, though.

Men’s singles round of 64, Arjun-Dhruv 11-10 Jomkoh-Kedren: It’s neck and neck in the first game and the Indians have a slender lead at the interval. Both pairs are trying to go on the offensive but are being pegged back by errors.

Time for some men’s doubles action again as India’s Arjun MR and Dhruv Kapila take on Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren in the round of 64.

A big upset in the men’s singles event as third seed Anders Antonsen, after saving four consecutive match points, is knocked out in the first round by Kenta Nishimoto...

Men’s singles round of 64, Lakshya Sen 21-12, 21-11 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus: Plenty of fist pumps and some superb play, cross-court in particular, as Lakshya Sen beats the experienced Hans-Kristian Vittinghus to reach the round of 32. The India No 1, who recently won the CWG gold, was full of confidence and aggression.

Men’s singles round of 64, Lakshya Sen 21-12, 11-7 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus: Like he did in the opener, Lakshya takes a four-point lead at the second game interval too. Unless something dramatic happens, he should close this match out in straight games.

Men’s singles round of 64, Lakshya Sen 21-12, 7-3 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus: The Indian ninth seed’s cross-court play has been superb so far. He’s mixing up the pace nicely too and HKV is often losing balance because of it. Lakshya remains in control in the second game.

Men’s singles round of 64, Lakshya Sen 21-12 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus: Lakshya wins the first game in just 15 minutes. The experienced HKV was expected to put up a tricky test but the young Indian star has simply been too strong so far. He’s playing with great aggression and not missing a whole lot.

Men’s singles round of 64, Lakshya Sen 16-9 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus: Plenty of aggression from Lakshya and he’s marching towards a lead in the match. He’s pulling the trigger with confidence and his movement as impressive as ever.

Men’s singles round of 64, Lakshya Sen 11-7 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus: Lakshya takes a healthy lead to the first game interval. HKV with a couple of excellent points on the back of some sharp movement but the Indian youngster has been in control for the most part.

Men’s singles round of 64, Lakshya Sen 6-2 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus: The ninth seed from India is off to a strong start. He’s moving well and has wasted little time in finding his range.

Vinayakk: No easing into the tournament business for Lakshya if he has to return to the podium. As tough an opening round fixture as it could be. HKV will make this hard.

It is Lakshya Sen time! The India No 1, who recently won the CWG gold, takes on Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in a tricky first-round match.

Men’s doubles round of 64, Attri-Reddy 11-21, 21-19, 15-21 Okamura-Onodera: That’s it, the Japanese pair win a hard-fought match. Manu and Sumeeth did well to fight back from 8-16 down in the decider but they couldn’t put their opponents under enough pressure at the end.

Men’s doubles round of 64, Attri-Reddy 11-21, 21-19, 5-11 Okamura-Onodera: The Japanese pair has regrouped and taken control again. There’s going to be one final change of sides and the Indians will be hoping to cut down the deficit quickly.

Men’s doubles round of 64, Attri-Reddy 11-21, 21-19 Okamura-Onodera: We are going to a decider! Super fightback by the Indian pair to clinch the second game. They raised their intensity several notches after losing the opener and didn’t lose the tempo. Tough to say how much of an impact drift has had so far but the Manu and Sumeeth will be determined to carry the momentum and start the third game strongly.

Men’s doubles round of 64, Attri-Reddy 11-21, 11-7 Okamura-Onodera: Much better from the Indian pair and they take a healthy lead to the second game interval. They came out full of confidence after losing the opener and rushed the Japanese pair on multiple occasions.

Men’s doubles round of 64, Attri-Reddy 11-21 Okamura-Onodera: The Japanese pair win the first game comfortably. The Indians haven’t been tight enough and the errors have come thick and fast, particularly from Sumeeth’s racket.

Men’s doubles round of 64, Attri-Reddy 3-11 Okamura-Onodera: It’s one-way traffic at the moment. Plenty of errors from the Indians and the Japanese pair has been in complete command.

India’s Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are up next against Japan’s Hiroki Okamura and Masayuki Onodera in the men’s doubles round of 64.

Women’s singles round of 64, Malvika Bansod 14-21, 12-21 Line Christophersen: Well, that wasn’t much of a contest as the world No 21 from Denmark wins comfortably to reach the round of 32. The Indian youngster never looked settled throughout the match and would be disappointed with that scoreline.

Olympic champion and world No 1 Viktor Axelsen completes a straight-games win...

Women’s singles round of 64, Malvika Bansod 14-21, 7-11 Line Christophersen: The Danish world No 21 continues to lead in the second game too. Malvika is trying to rush her opponent but coming up short. She needs to make a move soon.

Women’s singles round of 64, Malvika Bansod 14-21 Line Christophersen: Malvika saved five consecutive game points but the deficit was just too big and Line takes the lead. The Indian youngster will be determined to fight back and force a decider.

Women’s singles round of 64, Malvika Bansod 6-11 Line Christophersen: The Indian has quite a bit of catching up to do in the first game. Line hasn’t trailed at any point so far.

Time now for Malvika Banson to begin her campaign. The 20-year-old takes on world No 21 Line Christophersen from Denmark in the women’s singles round of 64.

Reigning Olympic champion and world No 1 Viktor Axelsen is also set to begin his campaign now. He takes on Malaysia’s Liew Daren in the men’s singles round of 64.

Rasmus Gemke has won the first game comfortably in his men’s singles round of 64 match, which means we’re potentially just a game away now from India’s Malvika Bansod taking the court.

A couple of non-India matches on Court 1 now before Manu/Sumeeth come on to play. Malvika Bansod is a match away on court 3.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15, 15-21 Chou Tien Chen: Symmetry in scoreline across the board. Sai Praneeth saved four match points but is ultimately paying the price for a slow start to the third game. But in all honesty, good to see the fight from him in a long physical battle. Perhaps there is still some miles left in his tank.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15, 14-20 Chou Tien Chen: Several match points for CTC, Sai saves three. Too little too late.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15, 10-19 Chou Tien Chen: Sometimes when it rains, it pours. CTC with a lucky net chord and a 9-point lead.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15, 10-17 Chou Tien Chen: Sai has a wry smile on his face, the shuttle is in by the smallest possible margin as he challenges the line call. This seems to be done now.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15, 9-15 Chou Tien Chen: Sai Praneeth can’t afford these errors. He had CTC on the run, gasping almost but misses a crosscourt shot. Bad miss. Could have been 10-14...

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15, 8-14 Chou Tien Chen: Sai moving alright now. A really, really good rally to make it 8-13, played a lovely backhand in that rally. And then makes a backhand error on cue.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15, 3-8 Chou Tien Chen: Sai had to start the third game better. Trailing 1-7 and now 3-8... won’t be easy to catch up even if he is going to finish from the better side.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 21-15 Chou Tien Chen: And not surprisingly perhaps, we’re going to a decider! Sai Praneeth wins the second game with the same margin as CTC won the first. The Indian raised his intensity and the world No 4 couldn’t close the gap. This could go either way if Sai can stay in touch in the first half of the third game.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21, 13-9 Chou Tien Chen: Sai doing well from the far side and looks sharper with this court movement. Needs to keep this up to stand a chance of forcing a decider. A 11-8 lead in the 2nd game interval, up to 4 points after the break.

Mixed doubles, round of 64, India 21-12, 21-13 Germany: Tanisha Crasto and Ishaan Bhatnagar are through to the mixed doubles round of 32 with a comfortable 21-12, 21-13 victory. The Indians had their nose ahead throughout the second game. The Indian youngsters will take on 14th seeds and world No 20 Supissara PAEWSAMPRAN and Supak JOMKOH next.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 15-21 Chou Tien Chen: Sai saves a couple game points but rather fittingly makes an unforced error on length at the back court, a pattern seen throughout the opening game. Good news is, he should enjoy playing from the other side now and CTC loves to play three-game matches... can the Indian take this to the decider?

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 11-15 Chou Tien Chen: Signs of drift as Sai’s lifts are going long. If the Indian can conserve some energy, he could make a move in the 2nd game.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 9-11 Chou Tien Chen: Some really nice exchanges in this one. Both men really skilled, CTC a great mover, Sai brilliant at his touch-game. But from 4-8 down, it is Chou who has zoomed ahead into a mini lead at the interval.

Mixed doubles, round of 64, India 21-12 Germany: Easy does it after a tight-ish start as Tanisha/Ishaan take the opening game 21-12.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 6-4 Chou Tien Chen: Sai with a good start here. CTC’s smashes are a bit hit and miss at the moment. The Indian staying in rallies well.

Mixed doubles, round of 64, India 11-8 Germany: Edging ahead Tanisha/Ishaan, in this one.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth 1-2 Chou Tien Chen: Sai actually looks rather fit at first glance. His fitness has always been the issue in recent years... skill never in doubt. Can he stay in touch with CTC, who is a physical beast?

Mixed doubles, round of 64, India 6-6 Germany: Even start in this match on Court 4.

Men’s singles, round of 64, Sai Praneeth vs Chou Tien Chen: Also about to start is the battle of the world No 4 and a former bronze medallist. Chou Tien Chen has a 4-0 lead against Sai, and he has never progressed past quarterfinals at this event. Sai knows what that is like as he won bronze in 2019. The Indian has been woefully out of form in recent times but can he find his groove here?

Mixed doubles, round of 64, India vs Germany: Tanisha/Ishaan in action shortly on court 4. They take on world No 70 Patrick Scheiel & Franziska Volkmann from Germany.

Did you know: In Men’s doubles, for the first time since China entered international badminton, there is no Chinese participation, with China having declined their invitations in this category

Read more in BWF’s preview here.

Couple of Indian matches coming up after the ones starting right now on Court 1 & Court 4.

Did you know: Japan has never hosted a badminton World Championships before this.

Men’s singles round of 64: A lovely embrace at the net as Ginting appreciates Coelho’s grit. The Brazilian made him work hard for that win...

Men’s singles round of 64: An upset was brewing in this one... but Ginting seems to have woken up on time.

Mixed doubles: What a result that is! Israel’s mother-son pair Svetlana and Misha Zilberman are in to the mixed doubles 2nd round with a 3-game win vs Egypt’s world No 51 pair. Svetlana is 64! This is her first ever win in a completed match at Worlds if I’m reading stats right. Caught the last few points and she was getting some winners in too. Brilliant stuff.

Here’s a look at the other matches for Indian shuttlers today. Next up is likely to be Sai Praneeth & Chou Tien Chen.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India 21-7, 21-9 Maldives: Comfortable outing for the Indians to start things off, but the challenge is going to be at the opposite end of the spectrum next up. Chen/Jia, the top seeds and defending champions, up next.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India 21-7, 11-5 Maldives: The control remains in tact for the Indian pairing here. Better points in this game so far, but still not enough to trouble Ashwini-Sikki. 11-5 lead in the 2nd game.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India 21-7 Maldives: The best rally of the match so far, but it gives 13 game points to Ashwini-Sikki. The Indians take it 21-7 in quick time.

Meanwhile on Court 2, Malaysia’s CWG hero in action.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India 14-6 Maldives: Don’t relax, is the message from coach Arun Vishnu. But a couple of poor serves from the Indians after the restart. Still in lead handily.

Women’s doubles, round of 64, India 11-4 Maldives: Not surprisingly, the Indians dominant at the start of this one. A couple of decent rallies, but Ashwini taking charge early on.

Women’s doubles, round of 64: First in action is a former medallist at this event. Ashwini Ponnappa, who along with Jwala Gutta, ended the long wait for India to win a medal at this event since 1983, in action against Maldives’ sisters duo of Aminath Nabeeha ABDUL RAZZAQ and Fathimath Nabaaha ABDUL RAZZAQ. This is the pairs’ first meeting. A not-so-enticing match against top seeds await the winners.

Hello everyone and welcome to our live coverage of the BWF World Championships.

In what has already been a hectic badminton season for Indian shuttlers that started with a couple of home tournaments, went to Europe for All England among other events, came back to Asia for another hectic leg across Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, then off to Birmingham for a busy CWG campaign... and now here we are, in Tokyo for a PV Sindhu-less World Championships. A busy day one awaits Indian shuttlers, we shall keep an eye on those and key results from across the draws as well.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy BWF / Viacom 18 / Tournament Software

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