Sydney: India had a disappointing day in the BWF Australian Open here with Anwesha Gowda the only winner on Wednesday as Sameer Verma gave a walkover to his Australian opponent.
Anwesha got the better of Australia’s Pitchaya Elysia Viravong 21-9, 21-11 in the women’s singles section of this BWF World Tour Super 300 event which has a total prize fund of USD 180,000.
Anwesha, the 14-year-old from Delhi who has won four junior titles in six finals this year, dominated the match, winning 42 out of the 62 rallies played. She won six consecutive points and never allowed her opponent to get into a good rhythm.
She broke away from 3-3 in the first game to open up a 7-3 lead and extended it to 12-4 and went on to win the game 21-9. Anwesha took early in the second game and never allowed her opponent to come anywhere closer to her score as she won the match in 21 minutes.
Also in women’s singles, Tanya Hemanth of India lost in two games against Malaysia’s Jin Wei Goh, 15-21, 16-21.
In women’s doubles, the Panda sisters — Rutaparna and Swetaparna — crashed out, losing to Chia Hsin Lee and Chun Hsun Teng of Chinese Taipei in straight games, 16-21, 14-21 in just 32 minutes in a match played on Court 1.
In men’s singles, Sameer Verma, the highest-ranked Indian in the fray, gave a walkover to his Australian opponent Nathan Tang. The reason for Verma pulling out of the event was not immediately known.
In the women’s doubles draw, Simran Singh and Ritika Thaker were also shown to have given a walkover to Mellysa Trias and Rachel Allesseya Rose of Indonesia. There were many walkovers in all the sections.
This means, Anwesha Gowda is the lone Indian surviving in the last event on the BWF Tour before the World tour Finals now moved to Bangkok.
–IANS