Paris, Aug. 24: Top Indian shuttler Chetan Anand crashed out of the World Badminton Championships with a disappointing straight-game defeat against a lowly-ranked opponent in the men’s singles first round here on Tuesday.
Chetan, the highest ranked Indian and seeded 14th in the prestigious event, lost 14-21, 18-21 to Singapore’s Ong Zhao Ashton Chen who is placed 107th in world rankings. The world number 15, who recovered from a knee injury recently, failed to find his rhythm and lost the tie without much of a fight in 37 minutes.
The other Indian in the men’s singles, P. Kashyap, too lost in the opening round. He won the first game though before bowing out 21-14, 14-21, 16-21 to Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk.
It was, however, a smooth sailing for the mixed doubles team of V. Diju and Jwala Gutta, who eased into the third round beating Malaysia’s Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh.
After their hard fought three game win over England’s Chris Adcock and Gabriella White on the opening day, the Indian pair outclassed the Malaysian duo 21-19, 21-8 in 24 minutes.
“We were leading in the first game but they turned the momentum and opened a three point lead before we steadied ourselves,” Diju said. Jwala added: “I think we were consistent. Though they played well in the first game, we were sure of ourselves.”
“It is a big blow as I had trained keeping the World Championships in focus. But today, nothing seemed to work and I just failed to come to grips with my game and also played into my opponents hands,” a dejected Chetan said.