World Badminton Championships 2018: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Ashwini Ponappa's heroics steal limelight on Day 2

A teenaged doubles specialist with quicksilver movements, an unflappable temperament and one of the most powerful smashes in the world proved to be the standout performer for India on Day 2 of the World Badminton Championships.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, all of 17 summers old, stole the limelight from seniors like Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth by the manner in which he pulled the chestnuts out of the fire in the two matches he was involved in, on Tuesday.

While Saina and Srikanth coasted to facile victories in their respective opening encounters in Nanjing, Rankireddy, who hails from the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, won a 52-minute long three-game mixed doubles second round match in the company of Ashwini Ponnappa. Later, the hardy teen played through the pain of a cramping left quadriceps muscle to end up triumphant in a truly Homeric 80-minute long men’s doubles battle, in partnership with Chirag Shetty.

The mixed doubles victory was really not expected, for the opponents were a far higher ranked combination – the No 15 seeds from Germany, Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich – which had waltzed merrily through the first game for the loss of a mere ten points with some aggressive and accurate play, even as their Indian opponents seemed ill-at-ease and almost overwhelmed.

But Rankireddy and Ponnappa gritted it out, keeping the shuttle down and at the net more, and also smashing with venom, to squeeze out a 10-21, 21-17, 21-18 win, and advance to a pre-quarter-final meeting on Thursday with the seventh-seeded Malaysians, Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai.

Rankireddy and Shetty were much more in the game from the very onset of their men’s doubles duel with Englishmen Chris Langridge and Mark Ellis, and matched their rivals lift for lift, dribble for dribble, smash for smash, to just about have their noses ahead at the finish-line for a 21-19, 12-21, 21-19 triumph.

Once again, it was a measured, determined performance that saw them never trail at any stage of the decider, and power away from a tricky 16-all situation to 19-16 before breasting the tape. The win propelled the Indian youngsters to a second round meeting on Wednesday with the No 8 seeds from Denmark, Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

At a time when the Indian bench strength was seen to be sadly wanting, it was heart-warming to see Ponnappa feed off the euphoria of her mixed doubles win, and dish out another determined display in the women’s doubles in the company of N Sikki Reddy.

The Indians remained undaunted by the loss of the first game at the hands of Chiang Kai Hsin and Hung Shih Han of Chinese Taipei, and gradually gained the upper hand, to emerge 19-21, 21-10, 21-17 winners after 52 minutes of absorbing badminton. For their efforts, Ponnappa and Reddy earned a second-round meeting on the morrow with the powerful Japanese second seeds, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota.

Sadly, their lower ranked compatriots, Poorvisha S Ram and Meghana Jakkampudi were shown the exit door by the Dutch duo of Debora Jille and Imke Van Der Aar, albeit after a sterling fight, at 15-21, 21-19, 18-21 in a minute shy of the hour mark.

Elsewhere, the Indian second-stringers fell about like ninepins against increasingly stronger opposition than on the opening day of the Championships. Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh were tamed at 18-21, 11-21 by the eighth-seeded Malaysian pairing of Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, while Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg managed a dozen points in each of the two games against the sixth-seeded English husband-and-wife combination of Chris and Gabrielle Adcock.

Nor did Sikki Reddy have much joy in the mixed second round. The Hyderabad-based left-hander and Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who had played so well on the opening day, were unceremoniously bundled out at 16-21, 4-21 by the 12th ranked Indonesian combination of Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja. As the scores reveal, they were totally outclassed in the second stanza.

Tarun Kona and Saurabh Sharma should, on the run of play, have won their men’s doubles duel against Hong Kong’s Or Chin Chung and Tang Chun Man in straight games. However, they stumbled at the extra-points stage in the opening game, and were eventually beaten at 20-22, 21-18, 17-21 in a 51-minute clash. MR Arjun and Shlok Ramchandran found Malaysians Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi too hot to handle, and capitulated quite meekly at 14-21, 15-21 in just under half an hour.

Of the Indian singles brigade, just two were on court on Tuesday, and both won handily without being extended. Fifth-seeded Srikanth did not play at full pace while smothering the challenge of 18-year-old Vietnamese Nguyen Nhat, who represents Ireland after moving there a dozen years ago.

Tenth seeded Saina faced few serious queries from Turkey’s 20-year-old Aliye Demirbag, who had been conceded a walkover in the opening round by Sabrina Jaquet of Switzerland. The 28 year old Indian took a little time to settle down, but then stepped on the gas pedal to leave the young Turk (no pun intended!) inhaling the dust of a 21-17, 21-8 drubbing.

Saina would certainly fancy her third-round chances on the morrow against the No 4 seed from Thailand, Ratchanok Intanon. The 2011 junior world champion and 2013 senior world champion was in indifferent form against Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt, and was distinctly fortunate to cheat defeat.

By rights, Intanon ought to have lost in straight games, as Blichfeldt won the first game, and had what should have been a match-winning 19-16 lead in the second. However, the Dane froze with the scent of victory in her nostrils, lost the second stanza over the extra points, and was a virtual passenger in the decider, in which Intanon finally turned on the style, for a 16-21, 22-20, 21-10 verdict.

While Saina would have been bucked to see that Intanon has not fully recovered from her recent back injury, she would have been dismayed at witnessing the performance of her anticipated quarter-final opponent, Carolina Marin of Spain. The 2014 and 2015 world champion and 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist was in devastating form as she demolished the challenge of the dangerous Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand by a 21-9, 21-8 scoreline in two minutes over the half-hour mark.

Moving on court with all the felicity and elan of her halcyon years, and ripping off her trademark screams of self-encouragement and opponent intimidation, the seventh-seeded Spanish left-hander put up a display that left her Thai opponent utterly bewildered at her own inability to provide a fitting riposte.

While Marin still has to get past another southpaw, the tall, 15th ranked Sayaka Sato of Japan, she undoubtedly sent out a chilling message to Saina that she was ready to reproduce the kind of performance that had relegated the Indian to a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships in Jakarta.