BASEL, Mar 12: India’s Arundhati Pantawane made a winning start in the qualifying round of the Women’s singles event at the Swiss Open Badminton Championship while compatriot Tanvi Lad made an early exit.
The talented Pantawane beat her Chinese Taipei opponent Ya Lan Chang 21-16 21-15 in only 26 minutes. She will meet Sun Yu of China in the second qualifying round.
While Pantawane advanced to the next round, another young girl Tanvi Lad bowed out as she lost Japan’s Shizuka Uchida 15-21 10-21 in 31 minutes.
In the match between Pantawane and Chang, the Indian girl dominated the show as she hit 17 smash winners compared to her opponent’s 6.
The first game was on even keel till 14-14 after which Pantawane won four consecutive points to get a 18-14 lead which turned out to be decisive in the end. At 20-16, she closed the game on her first game point.
Pantawane and Chang had a close fight till 12-12 in the second game after which, the Indian girl got five consecutive points to go ahead by 17-12. There was no looking back after that. Down 14-20, Chang saved a match point but the Indian won on the second point. (PTI)
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