US Open finalists HS Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap advanced to the pre quarterfinals, both winning in straight sets, in their first round engagements of the New Zealand Open Grand Prix Gold on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Prannoy, who recently won the US Open, brushed aside Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-14, 21-16, while 15th seed Kashyap defeated Indonesia’s Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka 21-5, 21-10 in just 22 minutes to progress to the second round in the men’s singles competition.
Fourth seed Prannoy will next face another Indonesian in the form of Firman Abdul Kholik, while Kashyap will clash against local boy Oscar Guo on Wednesday.
However, the biggest shock came when Ajay Jayaram, India’s highest seeded player in the tournament lost against the Chinese Hung Lu. The second seeded Indian faced an early exit after losing 19-21, 13-21, in straight sets in a match that lasted for just 36 minutes.
Young shuttlers Sourabh Verma, Siril Verma, Pratul Joshi, Niraj Vashist and Sahil Sipani also made progress to the next round of the $ 120,000 tournament.
While seventh seed Sourav defeated Australia’s Nathan Tang 21-17, 21-15, the younger of Verma brothers Siril Verma the younger of Verma brothers swept aside Ryanto Subagja 21-13, 21-12. Neeraj defeated Indonesian Androw Yunanto 21-8, 21-9, Pratul put aside local hero Daxxon Vong 21_10, 21-13 and Sahil beat New Zealander Joshua Feng 21-10, 21-10, in the singles matches held on Wednesday.
With the most prestigious World Championships less than three weeks away, the Indian shuttlers will look to make most of the matches they play to put up a strong show in the ultimate event.
Other aspiring shuttlers in the form of Siddharth Thakur, Sachin Rawat, Arun Kumar and Ashok Kumar also exited the competition after losing in the opening round.
Sanyogita Ghorpade, India’s only female player in the singles category gave a tough fight to Xie Yongshi of New Zealand, before going down 11-21, 24-22, 19-21 in the qualifying round.