India’s promising mixed doubles pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy got their China Open campaign off to a great start as they beat the world No 12 duo in the first round on Wednesday.
Ponnappa and Rankireddy, ranked 25th in the world, beat Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith 21-13, 20-22, 21-17 in an hour and three minutes to reach round two.
The Indians were sharp to begin the match, with the experienced Ponnappa being superb at the net and in her defence, while the young and tall Rankireddy was his usual brilliant self from the back court. Ponnappa set Rankireddy up for numerous jump smashes in that first game, which they won comfortably.
Ellis and Smith put up a much better show in the second game, taking a 11-6 lead at the interval. Ponnappa and Rankireddy had not quite switched off but the English pair played with more intent. Ellis and Smith managed to get themselves four game-point opportunities, but the Indians did not give up, saving all four of them to bring the score level at 20-20. Ellis and Smith managed to win the next two points, however, to take the match into a decider.
In the final game, Ponnappa and Rankireddy regained some of the sharpness that they had lost in the first half of the second game and maintained a three-to-four-point lead over the English pair throughout, eventually winning the game and match without much trouble.
While this was a big win, the Indians will have to be a lot better if they come up against the world No 1 pair of Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong in the second round. The Chinese pair will play their opening match later on Wednesday against Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying and are expected to win.
Ashwini and Satwik will also be in action again later on Wednesday in their women’s and men’s doubles matches respectively. India’s men’s singles campaign also begins with HS Prannoy taking on Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus, while Kidambi Srikanth will face Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke.
