Nine Indians shuttlers reach 2nd round of Malaysian GP Gold

Johor Bahru: Nine Indian shuttlers, including Sourabh Varma and P C Thulasi, advanced to the second round of the men's and women's singles competitions in the USD 120,000 Malaysian Grand Prix Gold at Pasir Gudang here on Wednesday.

Eighth seed Sourabh Varma, who has clinched 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 RMV Gurusaidutt 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.

Sai 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.

Veterans 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, seeded 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 in another match. Thulasi and Tanvi will face off in the next round.

However, it turned out to be a disappointing day for seventh seed and National Games champion Arundhati Pantawane, former national champion Sayali Gokhale and youngsters Mayank Behal and Subhankar Dey. While Japan's Yuki Fukushima ended Sayali Gokhale's journey with a 21-13 21-13 win, National Games winner Arundhati's gallant fight ended with a 21-12 21-23 19-21 defeat to another Japanese Ayumi Mine.

Mayank lost 12-21 17-21 to Singapore's Yong Zhao Ashton Chen, while Subhankar suffered a 18-21 9-21 defeat to Teck Zhi Soo of Malaysia in another men's singles match. Indian pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy B suffered a 11-21 16-21 defeat to sixth seeded Indonesian combo of Fran Kurniawan and Bona Septano in men's doubles competition.