On a day with no singles player in action for India, the doubles pairs of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as well as Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand progressed to the third round with straight-game wins at the BWF World Championships in Cophenhagen Wednesday.
The world No. 2 pair of Satwik and Chirag, who had won their first Worlds medal in the last edition saw off the Australian duo of Kenneth Zhe Hooi Choo and Ming Chuen Lim 21-16 21-9 in 30 minutes.
Treesa and Gayatri, seeded 15th, beat Chang Ching Hui and Yang Ching Tun of Chinese Taipei 21-18 21-10 in 38 minutes. Both pairs had received a by in the first round so this was first match in Copenhagen.
Satwik and Chirag will face Indonesia’s 10th seeds Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin next, who they have beaten in their only encounter so far.
However, Gayatri and Treesa, face an uphill battle next as they are to play top seed and two-time defending champions Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China in the next round.
In their opener, Satwik and Chirag hardly broke any sweat as they zoomed to 7-3 before entering the break with a four-point lead. They maintained the lead after resumption, moving to 15-11 and then 17-13. Chirag eventually sent one down the middle to grab four game points and Satwik sealed the game with a return on the backline.
After 4-4 scoreline in the second game, Satwik and Chirag again moved ahead with their superior play. The duo entered the interval with a six-point cushion following a fast net exchange and a smash from Satwik.
Choo and Lim tried to put pressure on the Indians but they lacked the wherewithal to trouble Satwik and Chirag, who soon grabbed 11 match points and won with ease.
Treesa and Gayatri, the Commonwealth Games bronze winners, trailed 2-5 early on but soon started rotating the strike and extending the rallies to draw out errors from their opponents to turn it around, reaching 8-6.
Chang and Yang clawed their way back at 8-8 but the Indian pair managed an 11-9 lead at the break with the Taiwanese duo spraying into the net thrice. Gayatri stepped up after the resumption, showing great anticipation at the front court as Indians led 14-11.
Treesa committed a few errors but the Indian duo still managed to keep its nose ahead. A service error from Chang and Yang gave the Indian pair four game points. Treesa sent one wide and then hit the net to squander two of them before sealing it when Yang sprayed into the net.
After the change of sides, Gayatri and Treesa continued the momentum, leading 8-5 at one stage. A powerful return to serve handed the Indians a three-point cushion at the interval.
Gayatri and Treesa stepped up the pace after resumption to move to 14-8.
The Indian pair was called for a service fault due to height but it had absolutely no affect as the two rode on their rivals’ series of errors to soon move to 19-10.
A good rally ended with Yang’s forehand at the net as the Indians had 10 match points and they sealed the deal after their rivals went wide again.
