Unheralded Indian men’s doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek K moved into the second round even as majority of their compatriots suffered defeats at the German Open badminton tournament, here on Wednesday.
Ishaan and Sai Pratheek took just 30 minutes to get the better of English duo Callum Hemming and Steven Stalwood. They won their tournament opener 21-15, 21-16. They will next clash with fellow Indians Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala.
The other Indian men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila fought hard before going down 13-21, 22-20, 19-21 to the sixth-seeded Malaysia combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.
In women’s competition, the doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost in the opening round to the fifth-seeded Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 13-21, 13-21.
In men’s singles, Subhankar Dey was shown the door by China’s Zhao Jun Peng with a 21-15, 21-8 victory.
On Tuesday, top Indian shuttlers, including double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu and World Championships silver and bronze winners Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen, had progressed to the second round. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and former top 10 player H S Prannoy had also made impressive starts.
