Indian women's pair of Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian gained from the last minute withdrawl of top Korean combination of Kyung Won Lee and Hyo Jung Lee to storm into the prequarterfinal of the World Badminton Championship in Madrid.
Gutta and Kurien, who are yet to be tested in the tournament as they got a bye in the first round, could not have expected more as they were pitted against the title contenders and third seeded pair of Kyung Won and Hyo Jung.
The Koreans were forced to pull out from the meet due to back injury to Hyo Jung which resulted in the Indian duo finding themselves among the last 16.
The Indian pair would face the winners of the match between Japanese Kumiko Ogura and Reiko Shiota and Malaysian Chew Yen Fong and Phui Leng See for a place in the quarterfinal.
India's campaign in the singles, however, started on a sour note yesterday with both the top players of the country Chetan Anand and Saina Nehwal bowing out of the men's and women's event respectively.
The doubles event brought more cheers as men's pair of Rupesh Kumar and Thomas Sanave and the women's combination of B R Meenakshi and Trupti Murgunde cleared their first round hurdles on Monday.
