National champion Aparna Popat was lucky to book her place in the women's singles pre-quarter-finals in the World badminton championships in Birmingham, England, even as the other Indians bowed out.

Popat remains the sole Indian hope in the prestigious tournament after South Korean Kim Kyeung Ran retired in the first game of their second round match.

The Indian was trailing 7-9 against the 10th seed, when Ran suddenly crashed down to the court, holding her knee.

Popat runs into second seed Zhang Ning of China in the pre-quarter-finals.

In the first round, Popat had upset world No. 25 Wan Ting Ling of Hong Kong 13-10, 11-8.

It was later diagnosed that the Korean again damaged the cruciated ligament in her left knee - an injury that has haunted her for a long time.

In another second round tie, Trupti Murgunde was routed by Japan's Kaori Mori 11-6, 11-0 in just 18 minutes.

Murgunde, a last minute entrant into the main draw, could not match the speed of her wily opponent, who had upset 15th seed Kelly Morgan of Wales in the first round.

Earlier, the women's pair of Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian went out to 16th seeds Wen-Hsing Cheng and Yu-Chin Chien of Chinese Taipei 8-15, 6-15 in a second round match.