Guwahati: Lalthazuala Hmar and Vennala K registered convincing victories in their respective matches as Indian shuttlers began their individual campaigns in the BWF World Junior Championships with an all-win record here on Monday.
Having helped the team bag a historic bronze medal in the team championships, the seeded Indian players had a bye in the opening round, while the others had to get their campaign going before the bigger challenges at the National Centre of Excellence.
Lalthazuala was the first Indian in action and the Mizoram shuttler needed just 14 minutes to pack off Uganda’s Denis Mukasa 15-4, 15-4.
Later in the day, Gnana Dattu TT took time to overcome his nerves before beating Milan Mesterhazy of Hungary 5-15, 15-7, 15-7 in boys’ singles, while Asian junior championships bronze medallist Vennala hammered Ireland’s Siofra Flynn 15-1, 15-6 in girls’ singles opening round.
Dattu, who did not play a single match in the team event, was the only Indian player to struggle on the opening day and the 17-year-old blamed his nerves for the wild start.
The Hyderabad-born shuttler made too many errors in the opening game and looked completely out of sorts.
But he took control of the match in the second game and dominated the proceedings thereafter.
“This is my first World Juniors and I was clearly nervous in the first game. Additionally, this is the second time that I was facing a European player and it took me time to understand their style of play.
“But once I went to the better side in the second game, I was confident that I can win this match,” said Dattu, who will face Joaquim Mendonca of Brazil in the Rd 2.