New Delhi: Aparna Popat defeated 10th seed Petya Nedeltcheva of Bulgaria 11-6, 11-9 in the opening round of the 14th World Badminton Championships in Anaheim in the US on Wednesday.

According to information received here, Aparna sealed the match in 30 minutes. Aparna, who is unseeded here, will face New Zealand’s Rebecca Bellingham in the next round.

In men’s event, national champion Arvind Bhat had a tough match against Athens Olympic bronze medallist and 11th seed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand and went down 6-15, 9-15.

In men’s doubles, India’s Thomas and Rupesh Kumar, who got a bye in the first round, will face second-seeded Indonesian pair of Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya on Thursday.