Bitburger Open: Anup stuns 10th seed Leverdez

India’s Anup Sridhar upset 10th seed Brice Leverdez of France in straight games 21-15, 24-22 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the 2012 Bitburger Open, being held in Saarbruken, Germany.

Anup, ranked 136 in the world, called the shots against the world number 48 in the first game before the Frenchman offered stiff resistance in the second game, which the Indian closed out at 24-22 in a match that lasted 30 minutes.

There was more good news in the Indian camp as Anup’s teammate Arvind Bhat also sailed into the pre-quarterfinals. The Bangalorean was clinical in his 21-16, 21-9 decimation of another French opponent Matthieu Lo Ying Ping.

The 79th ranked Arvind completed the winning formalities in just 27 minutes.

Earlier in the first round, Arvind had staged a major upset, scalping fourth seed Jen Hao Hsu of Chinese Taipei in straight games 21-14, 21-17.

Both Indians now run into tough opponents in the pre-quarterfinals, especially Anup who takes on third seed and world number 27 Rajiv Ouseph of England.

Arvind takes on 11th seed and world number 57 Andre Kurniawan Tedjono. It may be mentioned here that Arvind had lost to Tedjono at the 2012 Singapore Open 21-11, 19-21, 15-21 in a keen tussle.

The two Indians would be looking to emulate the feat of fellow Indian Chetan Anand winning the 2008 Bitburger Open.