GLASGOW: Top seed Son Wan Ho didn’t have it easy against Finland’s Kalle Koljonen in his first round of the men’s singles at the World Championships in Glasgow on Monday.

The 29-year-old trailed in the early stages of the first game — 3-5 and 5-7 — before eventually getting in front 9-8. He took it 21-14.

The second was also a tester. It got to 16-all before the South Korean broke through to win 21-14, 21-16 in 44 minutes at the Emirates arena.

“It was my first match and I know all the other players are keen to beat me,” said 29-year-old Son, who led South Korea to victory at this year’s Sudirman Cup in Jakarta.

“I was also in need of a chance to get used to the venue. But now I am feeling good. This is a very important competition for me. It would be a dream to become world champion. But I need to work very hard over the next week.”

Koljonen, ranked 72 in the world, was pleased with his effort on his first visit to Scotland.

He also had a lot of support for every time he won a point flags were waved and a huge banner was raised that said in Finnish: “Stay strong Kalle”.

“I enjoyed the match and played well,” he said. “I tried to push him as much as possible.”

Chinese legend Lin Dan had a much easier passage as he began his quest for a sixth world title.

He was up against the Scottish No 1 Kieran Merrilees, and won 21-15, 21-10.

Lin, who will turn 34 in October, was never seriously troubled, but paid the local man a compliment.

“He was a strong opponent, and played very well,” he said. “But I’ll have to play much better later in the week.”

Eighth-seeded Indian Kidambi Srikanth got his campaign off to a smooth start with a 21-13, 21-12 victory against Russia’s Sergey Sirant in 29 minutes.

Wong Wing-ki, the 12th seed from Hong Kong, powered into the second round with 21-15, 21-11 victory against Egypt’s Ahmed Salah.

Not all for the fancied players enjoyed routine wins. Thailand’s 11th seed Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk had to fight back from a game down to defeat Dutchman Nick Fransman 20-22, 21-12, 21-6.

In the women’s draw, on a comeback from a heel injury, Switzerland’s Sabrina Jacquet was involved in one of the longest matches of the first round, finally overcoming Ukrainian Natalya Votysekh 21-14, 18-21, 21-10.

Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt knocked out Ukraine’s Maria Ulitina 21-15, 21-19 to set up a clash with Japanese top seed Akane Yamaguchi.

Malaysia’s Rui Chen Yap despatched Australia’s Hsuan-Yu Chen 21-19, 21-11 and awaits Thailand’s world No 8 Ratchanok Intanon in the second round. Hong Kong’s Yip Pui-yin set up a match against defending champion Carolina Marin.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2017