HS Prannoy upsets compatriot Parupalli Kashyap in German Open

Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany): Promising shuttler HS Prannoy recorded a major upset in the German Open Grand Prix Gold, beating ninth seed and compatriot Parupalli Kashyap in straight games to advance to the third round of the men`s singles event of the USD 120,000 event, here today.

Prannoy beat fancied Kashyap 21-19 21-18 in just 47 minutes to set up a clash against sixth seed Wan Ho Son of Korea. In the other men`s singles event, Indian shuttlers Anand Pawar and Arvind Bhat entered the third round after registering contrasting victories. While it was an easy outing for World No. 34 Pawar, who outplayed Slovenian Iztok Utrosa 21-16 21-12 in just 28 minutes, former national champion Bhat, ranked 82nd, overcame a stiff challenge to stun World No. 10 Yun Hu 21-17 16-21 21-11 in a contest that lasted 59 minutes here at the RWE-Sporthalle. In the next round, Pawar will take on Tien Chen Chou of Chinese Taipei, while Bhat will meet the winner of another second round match between Rajiv Ouseph and Daren Liew. Meanwhile, in the women`s singles event, both P C Thulasi and Arundhati Pantawane moved into the second round with hard-fought wins over their respective rivals. While Thulasi defeated Michelle Li of Canada 7-21 21-19 21-17, Pantawane got the better of Denmark`s Line Kjaersfeldt 17-21 22-20 21-19. In the third rouns, Pantawane will be up against seventh seed Eriko Hirose of Japan, Thulasi will face the winner of the match between Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong and sixth seeded Sayaka Takahashi of Japan.