Indian shuttlers had mixed fortunes at the $65,000 Yonex Canada Open with second seed HS Prannoy advancing to the pre-quarter-finals but 16th seeded Parupalli Kashyap falling in the second round of this Grand Prix event in Calgary on Wednesday.
Even Prannoy too did not have it easy and was made to work hard by the 69th ranked Kieran Merrilees for a 21-17, 16-21, 21-15 win in 1 hour 8 minutes.
He next faces the ninth seeded Jin Hyeok Jeon for a place in the quarter-finals.
For Kashyap, who is still making his comeback after suffering a shoulder injury, it was a shock 10-21, 21-10, 15-21 defeat to the teenaged Koki Watanabe of Japan that ended his campaign.
Big win for Rajarajan
Meanwhile, Guatemala Futures winner Karan Rajan Rajarajan put up an impeccable display in his 21-16, 21-14 demolition of Sam Parsons of England. Considering that the Englishman is placed at 89th in the world rankings, which is 248 places higher than the Indian, it is a laudable feat indeed.
It is evident that the Guatemala Futures win at the beginning of this month has bolstered the 20-year-old’s confidence by miles.
Abhishek Yelegar too entered the third round with a tough 21-10, 19-21, 21-17 victory over American shuttler Howard Shu.
While Rajarajan next takes on Kashyap slayer Watanabe, Yelegar has the fifth seed Pablo Abian up next.
In women’s singles too, there were contrasting results for two of India’s most promising stars. South Asian Games champion Ruthvika Shivani Gadde stormed back from a first-game deficit to notch up a thrilling 6-21, 21-19, 21-13 victory over Korea’s Ga Eun Kim.
The Russian Open champion has an uphill task up next as she faces the second seed and World No. 18 Aya Ohori.
National champion Rituparna Das, however, had to bite the dust as she went down fighting 21-9, 18-21, 16-21 to Japan’s Haruko Suzuki.
3 wins in doubles
There were three wins in the doubles section for India on Day 2 of the Canada Open. Tarun Kona and Meghana Jakkampudi caused a huge upset in mixed doubles by stunning the eighth seeds Nyl Yakura and Brittney Tam, 21-13, 22-20.
Second seeded pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy easily dispatched the unheralded Peruvian duo of Daniel La Torre Regal and Danica Nishimura 21-10, 21-19.
In men’s doubles, the defending champions Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy made a bright start to their title defence by knocking out Kohei Gondo and Tatsuya Watanabe, 21-15, 21-19.
