Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh bowed out of the BWF World Championships in the opening round on Tuesday at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi, squandering multiple match points before going down to Turkey's Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas in a three-game thriller. The Indian mixed doubles pair, competing at the World Championships for the first time, won the opening game but could not hold their nerve when victory was within reach.

How the Match Unfolded

The Indian debutants made a composed start, winning the first game 21-16 with patient, disciplined play. The contest grew progressively tense, however, with the second and third games stretching to agonising margins. Surya and Pramuthesh ultimately fell 29-30 and 22-24 in the final two sets, surrendering a match they had been well-placed to win.

Notably, the Indians were not undone by any exceptional play from their Turkish opponents — it was their own unforced errors at critical junctures that proved decisive.

What Surya Said

'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 said after the match.

He elaborated on the nature of the errors: '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.'

Home Crowd a Lift, Not a Burden

Playing in front of a packed home crowd at the Indira Gandhi Stadium was a new experience for the pair, who have spent much of the season competing abroad at events including the Malaysia Open, India Open, and Thailand Masters — typically without comparable crowd backing.

'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,' Surya said.

He was clear that the atmosphere was energising rather than pressuring: '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.'

What Comes Next

With their BWF World Championships 2025 campaign concluded at the first hurdle, Surya confirmed the pair's next assignment: 'We are going for the Vietnam 100 (Vietnam Open) which is happening in September. So apart from that, not anything planned yet.' The defeat, though painful, underscored both their capacity to compete at the elite level and the fine margins that separate a debut win from a debut exit.