Singapore: Indian shuttlers did extremely well with several victories on the opening day of the Singapore Open main draw. B Sai Praneeth, H S Prannoy and P C Thulasi were able to advance to the second round of the USD 300,000 Singapore Super Series.
World number 45 men's singles – Praneeth, defeated Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif from Malaysia in a half hour match with 21-13, 21-15. This match was easier than expected for Praneeth, since Arif was once ranked world No. 30. Praneeth is likely to take on Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark next.
Another Indian shuttler, H S Prannoy, too, prevailed over Thailand`s Thammasin Sitthikom in a three set game with 21-17 14-21 21-11. Fifth seed Du Pengyu from China will be waiting for Prannoy on Thursday.
In women`s singles, P C Thulasi is going to set up a clash with world number two Chinese Wang Yihan in the next round after she notched up a 21-13 21-16 win over New Zealand`s Anna Rankin.
However, Tanvi Lad lost to Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China with 21-6 21-11 win in another women`s singles match.
The Indian men's doubles – Alwin Francis and Arun Vishnu out performed Chinese Taipei`s Jui Wei Liang and Kuan Hao Liao 21-15 16-21 22-20 in a 50-minute hard-fought three set match.
However, the mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tarun Kona was tamed by Singaporean players Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Yu Yan Vanessa Neo 15-21 10-21.
Another India`s mixed doubles pair of the beautiful Jwala Gutta and Jishnu Sanyal faltered at the qualifiers, losing 14-21 18-21 to Hong Kong`s Tang Chun Man and Tsz Ka Chan yesterday.
