Evans advances but Magee bows out

Badminton : There were mixed fortunes for the Irish players on the opening day of the badminton world championships in India…

Badminton: There were mixed fortunes for the Irish players on the opening day of the badminton world championships in India.

Scott Evans enjoyed a straightforward victory in the first round of the men’s singles, ending Vladimir Malkov of Russia challenge with a 21-9, 22-20 win.

But Chloe Magee’s campaign was short-lived as she was well beaten (21-13, 21-9) by Japan’s Ai Goto in the first round.

English officials have defended their decision to pull out of the event with in the southern city of Hyderabad.

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The team flew back to England on Sunday because of what Badminton England said was a "specific terrorist threat" against the championships

An Indian badminton federation official blamed the media for causing panic, while chief executive of Badminton Scotland Anne Smillie told local media that England had "perhaps overreacted" and that her team were confident security was at its best.

"I don't think we have overreacted. We were very clear with our expectations of security before the championships," Badminton England chief executive Adrian Christy said.

"We were not particularly impressed with the level of security we were faced with - both on our arrival and subsequent days as we began our preparation through practice in the arena."

England were the only team to withdraw from the event which started.