New Delhi, July 30: Undeterred by the early exit of their men counterparts, women shuttlers kept the Indian hope alive with both the singles as well as the doubles players booking their place in the second round of the World Badminton Championship being played in Birmingham, England. India's top woman shuttler and national champion Aparna Popat defeated Wan Ting Ling of Hong Kong 13-10 11-8 while Trupti Murgunde got the better of Spain's Dolores Marco 9-11 11-4 11-9 in matches played yesterday, according to information received here. Popat, who had a one-one record against her 25th ranked opponent, was in control of the match from the beginning as she dominated ling for the entire 32 minutes. Popat now faces 10th seed Kyeung-Ran Kim of Korea in the second round and could run into second seed Zhang Ning of China in the pre-quarter finals.
Bureau Report