Shuttlers thrash Kazakhstan at Asian Junior Championships

Jakarta: India thrashed Kazakhstan 5-0 in their opening match of the Asian Junior Championships badminton tournament here on Saturday.

The Kazak players were no match to the rampaging Indians as they found it to their chagrin in the opening match as world No.11 Akarshi Kashyap disposed of Iya Gordeyeva 21-5, 21-4 to put India in the lead in Group C.

Akarshi was too good for Gordeyeva as India did not allow any liberty in the opener, surging with a sizeable lead. The trend continued in the second as well when Iya failed to land the shuttle across the court, committing several unforced errors.

Akarshi kept her opponent on the toes all the time before the Kazakh girl finally gave up.

However, the ride for World No.9 Lakshya Sen was not that easy as he encountered some early problems before overcoming Dmitriy Panarin 21-15, 21-12.

Dmitriy kept himself in the hunt, at least in the first game, with some beautiful half-court smashes which Lakshya found difficult to counter. But once the Indian sized up his opponent's weakness, it became rather easy for him.

In the second game, the Kazakh boy put up some resistance but Lakshya finished way ahead.

With a 2-0 cushion, the Indians marched ahead as the women doubles was a foregone conclusion when Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker rolled past the Kazakh duo of Iya Gordeyeva and Aisha Zhumabek 21-7, 21-8 for an unassailable lead.

In men's doubles, it was a simple and straightforward approach for the Indian pair of Manjit Singh and Dingku Singh who took just 18 minutes to send Damir Abdullayev and Kemran Tajibullayev packing with a 21-5, 2-16 margin.

In the end, the mixed doubles turned out to be a mere formality for the Indian duo of Srishti Jupidi and Srikrishna Sai, who beat Dmitriy Panarin and Aisha Zhumabek 21-7, 21-9.