BWF World Championships: Ashith Surya was left to rue a string of missed opportunities after he and Amrutha Pramuthesh squandered multiple match points in a dramatic opening-round defeat to Turkey’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas at the BWF World Championships at the Indira Gandhi Stadium on Tuesday.
The Indian mixed doubles pair, making their World Championships debut, took the opening game 21-16 but could not close out the contest, eventually going down 29-30, 22-24 in the next two sets.
For Surya, the manner of the defeat made the result particularly difficult to accept. The Indians had chances to finish the contest but were unable to convert them when it mattered most.
“I think we are crushed a bit, sad that we had so many match points and yet we couldn't pick the game. But also happy at the moment that we got this opportunity to play here and we played really well. It was just few mistakes on the crucial points during the match points which lost us the game,” Surya told media after the loss.
The opening game had given the Indian pair a strong platform. Surya and Pramuthesh settled quickly, worked patiently together and secured a 21-16 advantage. The contest, however, became increasingly tense thereafter, with the second and third games turning into a battle of fine margins.
Surya felt the Indians had repeatedly allowed winnable points to slip away when they were within touching distance of victory. Rather than being undone by difficult attacking play from their opponents, he believed simple errors proved costly.
“I guess every time we got a match point, I think it was just an easy mistake. It was not any hard stroke or any somewhere we got caught. It was some shuttle which was in our hand which we itself made a mistake. So I think if we had been a bit more patient and played it just inside, we could have taken the game,” he added.
The defeat came on a significant occasion for the Indian duo, who were competing at the World Championships for the first time. Despite the painful ending, Surya said the home crowd had made the experience special, particularly after the pair had become accustomed to playing tournaments abroad without comparable support.
“Actually the crowd cheering is very good. When we usually go outside abroad for the tournaments, we don't have such a crowd support. And having the crowd support over here, cheering for us, feels really emotional and happy as well. Just sad that we couldn't convert the game for them,” he stated.
The packed support, however, was not something Surya felt weighed on the pair mentally. Instead, he credited the spectators with helping them keep fighting through the gruelling latter stages of the match.
“No, it was supportive actually than the pressure. It was motivating us more to push more. That's what kept us going in the second and third game. But doing the easy errors, we ended up losing the game,” the debutant said.
The packed support, however, was not something Surya felt weighed on the pair mentally. Instead, he credited the spectators with helping them keep fighting through the gruelling latter stages of the match.
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With the World Championships campaign now over, the pair’s next confirmed assignment will be the Vietnam Open in September. “We are going for the Vietnam 100 (Vietnam Open) which is happening in September. So apart from that, not anything planned yet.”