Men`s and mixed doubles pairs win, Mutatkar loses in Paris

Paris: Aditi Mutatkar became a first round casualty but Indian men`s and mixed doubles pairs kept the tri-colour fluttering as India wrapped up a mixed day at the World Badminton Championships.

Ninth seeds mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju struggled 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 thrashed Nigerian pair of Ola Fagbemi and Jinkan Ifraimu 21-18, 21-10 to advance to the next round. However, it was end of road for Mutatkar in the women`s singles after she lost 12-21 16-21 to 10th seed Eriko Hirose of Japan in a 32-minute match. "Hirose was too strong today. I tried mixing up my shots in the second game but it just wasn`t my day," Mutatkar said after the match. Jwala-Diju did not break a sweat and raced away with the first game 21-6 after beating 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 the play with the Indian pair losing points in unforced errors.Time and again, shots went into the net and seemingly easy returns sailed over the lines as suddenly the match that was going India`s way was tied 1-1 as the English pair won the second game 21-14. 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. "I really don`t think it was nerves," said Jwala."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. PTI