Win some, lose some

While the first-round faceoffs were essentially a quirk of the draw, the crowd was treated to the sight of the Indians more than holding their own against their fancied opponents. Praneeth was up a game and 11-4 in the decider against Du before going down 16-21, 21-10, 21-19 in a 65-minute encounter.

Pranoy meanwhile matched Long stroke for stroke in the first game, even leading by three points at 14-11, before eventually fading away to lose 21-15, 21-9. P Kashyap, however, was not in a mood to add his name to the list of valiant losers. In the day’s biggest upset, he stunned the Chinese World No. 7 Zhenming 12-21, 21-17, 12-21 over the course of an hour.

Zhengming isn’t Kashyap’s biggest-ever scalp. Just before the 2012 Olympics, Kashyap had beaten Zhengming’s compatriot Long, but that was when he had been, technically and physically, at the peak of his form.

Since then, Kashyap has slipped down the world rankings from a high of 6 all the way to 24 — as of Wednesday. His right shoulder is heavily strapped due to a chronic injury. Just a couple of months ago, he suffered a partial dislocation during a tournament.

Zhenming, a former junior world champion who has China emblazoned across the back of his t-shirt, is reckoned by many as, perhaps, the most stylish player from his country. Before Wednesday, Kashyap had played Zhengming twice — once each in 2012 and 2013 — and had not even managed to take a game off the 24-year-old. After Wednesday’s match, Kashyap said Zhengming had always managed to read him well and anticipate his strokes.

On Wednesday however, it was Kashyap who was doing the reading. Trailing 5-4 in the opening game, he reeled off 6 points in a row and never looked back. Zhengming fought back to take the second game.

The deciding game is where most Indians hate to be up against shuttlers from their northern neighbour. Where the average shuttlers find their energy flagging, most Chinese ones seem to find a second wind. That however, is Ming’s weak spot. For all his fluidity and grace, he doesn’t have the bullheadedness of, say a Chen Long.

Kashyap meanwhile chose to attack relentlessly and further threw Zhengming off his game by repeatedly getting to the net. The Chinese was never ever in the contest. Kashyap lead throughout and had stretched his lead to 16-9 at one stage. Zhengming clawed back 16-12 but Kashyap reeled off five points consecutively to clinch it.

Sindhu beaten

A couple of hours after Kashyap had put one over a Chinese opponent he had never beaten before, it was time for women’s shuttler Shixian Wang to return the favour for China as she beat PV Sindhu 21-15, 12-21, 21-10. In three previous encounters between the two, Wang had never come out on top. The key to that favourable record, as Sindhu had said, was not to give away easy points and choose moments to attack against the current All England champion. That gameplan was nowhere to be seen on Wednesday.

While World No. 2 Wang mixed precise drop shots with delicate dribbles, the 18-year-old Indian had dozens of unforced errors interspersed with a few moments of brilliance. Wang however, had a brief meltdown in the second game when while trailing 12-11, she got an unfavourable call from the line umpire and took too long to refer. She lost the next nine points, claiming only one.

Wang was again trailing 3-0 in the third before Sindhu came to her rescue with some poor shotmaking. 13 points in a row took Shixian to 16-4 and even though Sindhu took entered double figures it was rather appropriate that another unforced error — a drive into the net — gave Wang the win.

While Sindhu had the misfortune of being paired with Shixian first up, Saina Nehwal had a far easier time against Austria Simon Prutsch, winning 21-7, 21-9. Saina has a Chinese hurdle of her own to overcome — with third seed Yihan Wang as a possible quarterfinal opponent — but has a comparatively easier match against Thailand’s Natcha Saengchote on Thursday.

The Prutsch-Nehwal game was so one sided that, even before her match ended, fans began shifting towards the court beside her where top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia was giving an exhibition against hapless Indian qualifer Ajay Kumar.

Chong Wei, who had beaten Chen Long for the All England title last month, had said that he was initially looking to take a break after that tournament but ultimately decided to take part in the India Open.

“I have got many big tournaments this year (Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships). So I need to rest. But I want to come to India. I come back here for the fans,” he said magnanimously after his 21-9, 21-9 win.

Results: Sourabh Varma bt Vladimir Ivanov 21-16 17-21 21-14, RMV Gurusaidutt bt Tien Chen Chou 17-21 21-16 21-17, Brice Leverdez bt Shreyansh Jaiswal 21-15 24-22 21-13; Takuma Ueda bt K Srikanth 21-18, 21-18, Jan O Jorgensen bt A Pawar 21-10 21-19 21-6 ; Sayali Gokhale bt Tanvi 21-17 21-10, Trupti Murgunde bt Mudra Dhainje 24-22 12-21 21-18 Xin Liu bt Shruti Mundada 21-12 21-8, Shizuka Uchida bt PC Thulasi 18-21 21-17 18-21, Minatsu Mitani bt Saili Rane and lost 16-21 8-21; J Gutta/A Ponappa bt Chaladchalam Chayanit/ Peeraya Munkitamorn 21-19 17-21 21-14.