Johor Bahru (Malaysia): Nine Indian shuttlers, including Hyderabad’s B. Sai Praneeth, R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt, Sourabh Varma and P.C. Thulasi, advanced to the second round at the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold at Pasir Gudang here on Wednesday.
Eighth seed Sourabh Varma, who had won three titles Tata Open, Austrian International Challenge and Iran Fajr International Challenge recently prevailed over Hong Kong’s Yan Kit Chan 21-12, 21-17 in a 31-minute match.
The 21-year-old Sourabh, national champion in 2011, will next take on 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games bronze medallist compatriot Chetan Anand, who thrashed Indonesia’s Kaesar Akbar 21-11, 21-14 in another men’s singles match.
Sixth seed Guru defeated compatriot Gaurav Venkat 21-7, 21-8 to set up a clash with Malaysian qualifier Seng Zoe Yeoh, while seventh seed H.S. Prannoy thrashed Malaysia’s Jiann Shiarng Chiang 21-10, 21-16 to meet Japan’s Riichi Takeshita in the next round.
Praneeth, seeded 12th, beat Indonesia’s Mahbub Thomi Azizan 21-16, 21-11 in another men’s singles match and will next take on local shuttler Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.
Young Aditya Prakash also produced a brilliant display to tame Indonesia’s Andre Marteen 21-17 15-21 21-14. Veteran Anup Sridhar too reached the second round after notching up a 21-11, 21-16 win over Indonesia’s Dharma Alrie Guna in another match. He will take on Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai, seedd ninth, in the next round.
In women’s singles, Thulasi and Tanvi Lad advanced to the second round after contrasting victories. While Thulasi had to toil hard before prevailing over Chinese Taipei’s Yu Po Pai 16-21, 21-16, 21-17, Tanvi beat Indonesia’s Dinar Dyah Ayustine 21-19, 21-17.
