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BWF World Championships: Sai Praneeth, Prannoy make winning start

Praneeth, ranked 19th, defeated 66th-ranked Jason Anthony Ho-Shue of Canada

Sai Praneeth hits a return during his men's singles semifinal match against Kento Momota of Japan at the Japan Open badminton tournament, in Tokyo | AFP

India's Sai Praneeth and H.S. Prannoy made convincing starts at the BWF World Championships to advance to the second round at Basel on Monday.

Praneeth, ranked 19th, defeated 66th-ranked Jason Anthony Ho-Shue of Canada 21-17, 21-16 in a first round clash lasting 39 minutes.

In another men's singles first round match, world number 30 Prannoy fought back to beat 93rd-ranked Eetu Heino of Finland 17-21, 21-10, 21-11.

India got a favourable result in the women's doubles also with Meghana Jakkampudi and S. Poorvisha Ram getting past the Guatemala pairing of Diana Corleto Soto and Nikte Alejandra Sotomayor 21-10, 21-18 to enter the second round.

The other Indians in fray, seventh seed Kidambi Srikanth and 10th seed Sameer Verma, play their first round later on Monday.