Indian veteran badminton player HS Prannoy opened his BWF World Championships campaign with a win over Kalle Koljonen of Finland in the first round of the tournament on Monday.
The 31-year-old Prannoy picked up a 24-22, 21-10 straight sets win over the Finn in his opening round fixture to seal progress into the second round.
Lakshya Sen also sealed progress in the event in Denmark with a 21-10, 21-7 win over Mauritian shuttler Georges Julien Paul.
The first game was a tightly contested affair as both shuttlers traded blow for blow pushing each other on in a game that extended beyond the regulation 21-point mark.
The Finn rushed to a 4-point lead at 8-4 in the initial stages before Prannoy fought back with 7 straight points to turn things around at 11-8. However, Koljonen clawed his way back with the lead exchanging hands a couple of times before the game went beyond the stipulated point range.
Prannoy held his nerve to edge out Koljonen with a 24-22 win to take the first game and a 1-0 lead in the fixture.
The second game, however, was a rather straightforward affair for the Indian as he steamrolled past his opponent.
The Indian shuttler took an early 4-point lead at 6-2 and never let his opponent get anywhere near him this time as he smashes his way to a massive 21-10 win over the Finn to register a 2-0 win in the opening round.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor were shown the exit door in the opening round of the event as they went down 21-14, 20-22, 21-18 against the Scottish pairing of Julie Macpherson and, Adam Hall.
The Indian duo conceded the opening game of the fixture to the Scots as the Brits never looked troubled. Macpherson and Hall picked up the first game with a comfortable 21-14 win.
But, the Indians hit back in the second game as they picked up a fighting 22-20 win despite trailing early on in game 2 as well. However, a dramatic turnaround lit up hopes of Indian progress, as Reddy and Kapoor sealed the second game in their favour.
The decisive third game was picked up by the Scots as they registered a 21-18 win to knock the Indian pair out of contention at the event in Copenhagen.
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