Shuttlers Srikanth, Kashyap advance in Singapore Open

Top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and H.S. Prannoy notched up victories to progress to the men's singles second round at the $300,000 Singapore Open Superseries here on Wednesday.

A little later women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also advanced to the second round, beating South Koreans Go Ah Ra and Yoo Hae Won 21-12, 21-16 in 33 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

World No.17 Kashyap had an easy outing against South Korean Lee Hyun Il as he came out on top 21-11, 21-13 in 33 minutes to earn his second win over the World No.26 in five meetings. The Indian will next take on another South Korean, fourth seed Son Wan Ho against whom Kashyap has never won in their previous two meetings.

Son earlier took care of Kashyap's compatriot R.M.V. Gurusaidutt 16-21, 21-12, 21-15 in an hour and three minutes.

On the other hand, Prannoy defeated Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-15, 21-17 in 40 minutes to extend his career record to 3-1. The youngster has a tough challenge ahead as he takes on Danish second seed Jan O Jorgensen next up.

However, the World No.14 can take heart from the fact that he has beaten the World No.2 Dane twice is as many meetings. O Jorgensen had defeated Prannoy's friend and compatriot B. Sai Praneeth 21-11, 21-18 in 31 minutes in the opener.

Later in the day, third seed Srikanth had to work hard to earn a three-game 51-minute win over Tien Minh Nguyen. The Guntur-born came out on top with a 21-18, 19-21, 21-14 win to take a 2-1 career advantage over the Vietnamese. World No.4 Srikanth will next take on Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk against whom the Indian has a 2-1 record.

On other courts, Danish Line Kjaersfeldt overcame P.C. Thulasi 21-16, 21-14 in 35 minutes in a women's singles match while South Korean fifth seeds Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na beat Tarun Kona and N. Sikki Reddy 21-15, 21-17 in 29 minutes in mixed doubles first round.

In women's doubles, Thai pair of Jongkonphan Kittiharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai defeated Dhanya Nair and Mohita Sahdev 21-8, 21-8 while Indonesian combine Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth and Rizki Amelia Pradipta took care of Pradnya Gadre and Sikki 21-17, 21-13.

South Korean top seeds Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong ended India's challenge in the men's doubles event as they beat Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar 23-21, 21-11.