The individual event started on a bright note as Maisnam Meiraba Luwang-led Indian boys, Satish Kumar Karunakaran, Pranav Rao Gandham and Rohan Gurbani put up a compelling show to win their respective matches on the first day of the 21st edition of BWF World Junior Championships in Kazan, Russia on Monday.
Junior star shuttler Maisnam Meiraba Luwang seeded seventh in the tournament barely had to break a sweat as he breezed past Romania’s Teodor Cioroboiu 21-4, 21-3. Satish Kumar Karunakaran also comfortably went defeated his Ugandan opponent Samuel Wasswa with a score line of 21-6, 21-5.
Junior World number 10 Luwang after receiving a first-round bye, started attacking from the word go and took less than 15-minutes to wrap up the game to move to the round of 64 at the Championships.
Besides him, Tamil Nadu’s Satish Kumar Karunakaran and Telangana’s Pranav Rao Gandham also played with immense authority to beat their respective opponents. Pranav Rao Gandham crushed Armenia’s Arman Vardanyan 21-10, 21-6 in his first-round match. Both the shuttlers were equally destructive and took a little over 15-minutes to finish their respective matches and move to the final 64.
In the last singles match of the day for India, Nagpur’s Rohan Gurbani, who is also reigning U-17 boys singles national champion outclassed his opponent with a great offensive shot selection in a short 16 minute game. Celebrating his birthday, Gurbani won his match 21-6, 21-3 against Latvia’s Alens Zandovskis to register an impeccable first day all round for India in the boys singles category at the World Junior Championships
At the previous edition, Lakshya Sen had brought bronze medal and till date Saina Nehwal remains India’s only gold medallist in the World Junior Championships.