Kristin Kuuba out of badminton world champs in round one
Estonian badminton player Kristin Kuuba went out in round one of the women's singles at the world championships in Paris earlier this week, losing 2:0 to reigning European champion Line Kjaersfeldt (Denmark).
Kuuba said it was noticeable that she had not competed for some time. "When I got into the game in the second set, I felt better and more confident playing at the net. I also got more attacking opportunities myself."
"Unfortunately, in the middle of the game I had a small slump, making several simple mistakes in a row. The final points were more of a lottery, and with her greater experience she knew better how to play them. Overall, I am still satisfied with the second game; to play evenly against such a high-level player showed that there is hope," she added.
In the first game, the Dane, ranked 19th in the world, quickly pulled ahead and eventually took a 21:10 victory.
In the second game, Kuuba managed to seize the initiative and got herself into a 15:9 lead, only for Kjaersfeldt to catch up. In the end, the European champion prevailed 21:19.
Kuuba, who has now fallen to 186th in the world rankings, has set herself the goal of returning to the position she held before last year's Paris Olympics. "The goal is to rise back into the top 50. I have played few tournaments lately, so therefore I have dropped in the world rankings."
Kuuba is next to compete in a European Cup stage in Belgium in a couple of weeks' time.
Kjaersfeldt will meet 11th-seed Supanida Katethong (Thailand) in the next round.
The Badminton World Championships run until August 31.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte,Henrik Laever
