Pawar, Bhat enter third round of German Open

Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany): Indian shuttlers Anand Pawar and Arvind Bhat entered the third round of the men`s singles of the USD 120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold after registering contrasting victories, here on Wednesday.

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. Later today, ninth seeded Parupalli Kashyap will clash against compatriot H S Prannoy in a second round men`s singles match, while P C Thulasi and Arundhati Pantawane will play their respective women`s singles first round matches.