WUG: Dominant Start For Indian Shuttlers; Benedicton Breaks National Record On Mixed Opening Day
Indian shuttlers began their World University Games campaign in emphatic fashion, securing a 5-0 win over Macau in the mixed team badminton event, while 19-year-old swimmer Rohit Benedicton broke a seven-year-old national record in the men's 50m butterfly on the opening day of competition in Germany's Rhine-Ruhr region on Thursday.
The rest of the Indian contingent, however, faced a mixed bag of results across disciplines including fencing, volleyball, taekwondo, tennis, and table tennis.
Badminton Team Sweeps Macau in Opener
India kicked off their Group F campaign with a clean sweep over Macau. The men's doubles pair of Saneeth Dayanand and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran set the tone with a straight-games victory over Chi Chon Pui and Kok Weng Ving.
In the women's singles, Devika Sihag got the better of Chi Wa Pui, while Saneeth returned for the men's singles, defeating Fei Long in straight games. The women's doubles team of Tasnim Mir and Varshini Viswanath overcame Sam Kio Ieong and Wai Kei Wang, and the mixed doubles pair of Karunakaran and Vaishnavi Khadkekar completed the rout by beating Kok Weng Vong and Chi Wa Pui.
The standout performance of the day came in the pool, where Rohit Benedicton clocked 24.00 seconds in the 50m butterfly heats, breaking the national record previously held by Virdhawal Khade, who had set a time of 24.09 seconds in 2018.
Rohit finished 12th overall and qualified for the semifinals, making him the only Indian swimmer to advance on the opening day. Just last month, the teenager had broken Khade's 100m butterfly record at the National Aquatics Championships in Bhubaneswar with a time of 52.57 seconds, eclipsing the previous best of 52.79.
Mixed Results in Fencing
In men's sabre, Abhay Shinde was the only Indian to reach the knockout stages, where he narrowly lost 13-15 to a Spanish opponent in the round of 64.
In the women's epee, Mitva Chaudhari made it to the round of 32, where she was defeated 11-15 by Germany's Alexandra Zittel. Other Indian fencers failed to progress past the preliminary rounds.
Volleyball Team Suffers Another Defeat
India's women's volleyball team suffered their second consecutive loss, going down in straight sets to Poland with scores of 15-25, 13-25, 15-25. The defeat significantly dents their chances of reaching the next round.
Early Exit in Taekwondo Mixed Poomsae
In taekwondo's mixed pairs poomsae, the Indian duo of Yash Malinda and Ritu Yadav were eliminated in the round of 16, losing to China by a score of 8.932 to 8.433.
Tennis Players Fall in First Round
On the tennis courts, both Indian men's singles players made early exits. Kabir Hans lost a hard-fought match to Uzbekistan's Maksim Shin, falling 2-6, 6-4, 4-6. Shashank Macherla was comprehensively beaten by Switzerland's Luca Staheli, 0-6, 1-6.
Table Tennis Fixtures Await
India's women's table tennis team is set to face Romania in their Group 5 match, while the men's team will take on Japan in the Group 3 opener later in the day.
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