Prannoy, Thulasi win in Sri Lanka Open

New Delhi: India had a good day in office at Sri Lanka Open with young shuttlers H S Prannoy and P C Thulasi reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively in the men`s and women`s singles event of the International Badminton Challenge in Colombo today.

Top seed Prannoy ended the run of local shuttler Niluka Karunaratne, seeded ninth, with a 21-16 19-21 21-9 in men`s singles round three. The 21-year-old, a silver medallist in boys` singles at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, will next take on compatriot Anup Sridhar, who defeated fifth seed Lucas Corvee of France 21-23 21-17 21-13 in another match. Second seed Anand Pawar entered the quarters after beating Thai qualifier Mek Narongrit 21-14 21-9, while Aditya Prakash also reached the last eight with an easy 21-15 21-9 win over 10th seed Thomas Rouxel of France at the Sugathadasa Indoor Sports Complex. In women`s singles, Thulasi, who last played in the Uber Cup at the Siri Fort Complex, beat Thailand`s Alisa Sapniti 21-13 21-13 to reach the semifinals. She will next take on sixth seeded Thai Supanida Katethong in the semis of the USD 15,000 event. Fourth seeds Pradnya Gadre and Siki Reddy N reached the semifinals of the women`s doubles competition with a 21-18 21-17 win over Thailand`s Karnjanavadee Bunsomboon and Rawimon Iamratanamaetheekul.