Jwala-Diju in round two

Rupesh-Sanave off to winning start; Aditi crashes out

Ninth-seeded mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju battled past English combo of Chris Adcock and Gabriella White 21-6, 14-21, 21-8 to enter the second round.

In men’s doubles category, 15th-seeded pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas trounced Nigerian pair of Ola Fagbemi and Jinkan Ifraimu 21-18, 21-10 to advance to the next round. However, it was end of the road for Aditi in the women’s singles after she lost 12-21, 16-21 to 10th seed Eriko Hirose of Japan in 32 minutes.

Jwala-Diju did not break a sweat and raced away with the first game 21-6, outfoxing their rivals at the net with some deft shots. The Indians pinned the English duo to the corners and forced them to commit errors.

However, in the second game, the tables turned as Adcock and White dominated play with the Indian pair committing a lot of unforced errors. Time and again, shots went into the net and seemingly easy returns sailed over the lines as the English pair levelled proceedings after winning the second game.

Jwala-Diju’s net play and back court game was more controlled in the decider as the Indians refused to give any chances and played a controlled game at the net. Their dribbles and a few net placements got the sizeable French crowd applauding for them as Jwala and Diju raced away to a 5-2 lead, before sealing the decider 21-8.

“We were a little loose in the second game, kind of took things for granted and they exploited us. But we got our game back in time to win the match,” she added. Meanwhile, Indian ace Saina Nehwal said past record won’t matter when she begins her campaign on Tuesday.

“In a world championship, all the games are close. The atmosphere is electric and it really doesn’t matter how many tournaments you win in the run-up as every player wants to win. And as you climb the rankings, each and every player wants to beat you,” said the world number two.