Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap reached the pre-quarterfinals of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold after notching up contrasting victories in the women’s and men’s singles competitions here.
Top seed Saina, who regained her second place in the world ranking today, prevailed over Sashina Vignes Waran of France 13-21 21-15 21-12 in a 47-minute match, while Kashyap edged out German Dieter Domke 15-21 22-20 21-13 in a match that lasted 50 minutes yesterday.
The London Olympics bronze-medallist will next take on Petya Nedelcheva in the pre-quarters, while fifth seed Kashyap, who jumped two placed to become the world number seven in the latest badminton ranking today, will be up against ninth seed Wei Feng Chong of Malaysia.
Among the young shuttlers, H S Prannoy stunned seventh seed Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand to earn the pre-quarterfinal berth and will clash with 15th seed Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei later today.
P V Sindhu, too, entered the second round after her rival Ji Hyun Sung of Korea retired midway with the Indian leading 7-2. She will be up against qualifier Yui Hashimoto of Japan next at the St Jakobshalle here.
In the men’s doubles competition, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar prevailed over Thai combo of Bodin Issara and Sudket Prapakamol 12-21 21-17 21-15 to make their way to the pre-quarterfinals.
The Indian duo will be up against the top seeds Sung Hyun Ko and Yong Dae Lee of Korea next.