New Delhi: Promising young Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth notched up a thrilling three-game victory over Yu Hsien Lin of Chinese Taipei to advance to the second round of the Asian Badminton Championship in Chengdu, China on Tuesday.
Praneeth beat Hsien Lin 14-21 21-19 21-18 in the first round to set up a second round clash with 10th seed Japanese Kazushi Yamada tomorrow.
Other Indian in the fray in men's singles Saurabh Verma, however, failed to cross the first round hurdle and was defeated by Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif of Malaysia 16-21 12-21.
In women's singles, PC Thulasi beat Malvinne Ann Venice Alcala 21-16 14-21 21-13 in the first qualifier but was outwitted by Jing Yi Tee of Malaysia 18-21 13-21 in the second round.
Neha Pandit too became a first round casualty in the qualifiers, losing 2-21 12-21 to Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand in another match.
Third seeds Indian pair of Manu Attri and Jishnu Sanyal beat Vietnamese duo of Quang Tuan Bui and Ha Anh Le 21-15 21-9 in the first round of the qualification, before getting past Saravuth Prum and Yongvannak Teav of Cambodia 21-13 21-18 to reach the main draw of the men's doubles.
In the mixed doubles qualification, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari and Vivian Kah Mun Hoo proved too hot to handle for Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre as the India duo suffered a 13-21 18-21 loss to the Malaysian pair.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, April 19, 2011, 21:23