Mixed doubles pairs win at Malaysian Open

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 19 (PTI) Chetan Anand became a firstround casualty but mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and VDiju kept the tri-colour fluttering as India wrapped up amixed day at the Malaysia Open Super Series badminton eventhere today.

The duo of Jwala and Diju eased past German combo ofJohannes Schoettler and Sandra Marinello 21-12 21-13 in just24 minutes to enter the second round at the Bukit Jalil Putrastadium.

Jwala-Diju did not break a sweat and raced away with thefirst game 21-12 after beating their rivals at the net withsome deft shots. The Indians pinned the German duo to thecorners and forced them to commit errors.

In the second game, Jwala-Diju showed their prowess atnet play and back court game as the Indians refused to giveany chances to the opponents.

The Indian duo''s controlled play at the net saw thempocketing the game 21-13.

Earlier in the first round of the men''s singles event,Chetan lost 14-21 17-21 to Kazushi Yamada, while qualifierAnand Pawar went down 17-21 21-23 after a spirited fight inthe second game to sixth seed Boonsak Ponsana.

In the women''s doubles category, Commonwealth Games goldmedallist pair of Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa suffered athree-game loss. The Indian combo lost 11-21 21-16 5-21 tofifth seed Jing Du and Pan Pan in a 43 minute clash in thefirst round.