Sai Praneeth and Sameer move up

Up and running: B. Sai Praneeth started his Australian Open campaign with a straight-games win over Israel’s Misha Zilberman on Wednesday.

Up and running: B. Sai Praneeth started his Australian Open campaign with a straight-games win over Israel’s Misha Zilberman on Wednesday.  

Other Indians in men’s singles make their exit; Vaishnavi advances in the women’s section

Indian shuttlers started on a positive note at the Australian Open with second seed B. Sai Praneeth and fourth seed Sameer Verma progressing to the second round of the men’s singles event here on Wednesday.

While Praneeth beat Israel’s Misha Zilberman 21-17, 21-14, Sameer had to toil hard to get the better of New Zealand’s Abhinav Manota 13-21, 21-17, 21-12 in the HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300 event.

Sameer’s brother, Sourabh Verma, however, suffered a hard-fought 19-21, 21-17, 21-12 defeat at the hands of Japan’s Takuma Ueda.

It was curtains for unseeded Ajay Jayaram as he went down 20-22, 22-20, 21-17 to Japan’s Riichi Takeshita in a pulsating 72 minute contest.

Teenage sensation Lakshya Sen, who gave double Olympic champion Lin Dan a scare last week in Auckland, lost to seventh seed Cheuk Yiu Lee of Hong Kong 22-20 13-21, 21-19.

Karan Rajan Rajarajan lost 21-15, 21-8 against Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, while Rahul Yadav Chittaboina was beaten 21-11, 21-17 by Indonesia’s Panji Ahmad Maulana.

In the women’s section, J. Vaishnavi Reddy progressed by defeating England’s Georgina Bland 19-21, 21-15, 21-15.

In doubles play, there were wins for Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy, M.R. Arjun and Ramchandran Shlok and J. Meghana and Poorvisha S. Ram, while other pairs made their exit.

The results: Men: B. Sai Praneeth bt Misha Zilberman (Isr) 21-17, 21-14; Sameer Verma bt Abhinav Manota (NZ) 13-21, 21-17, 21-12; Takuma Ueda (Jpn) bt Sourabh Verma 19-21, 21-17, 21-12; Riichi Takeshita (Jpn) bt Ajay Jayaram 20-22, 22-20, 21-17; Cheuk Yiu Lee (HK) bt Lakshya Sen 22-20 13-21, 21-1; Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Karan Rajan Rajarajan lost 21-15, 21-8; Panji Ahmad Maulana (Ina) bt Rahul Yadav Chittaboina was beaten 21-11, 21-17.

Doubles: Manu Attri & B. Sumeeth Reddy bt Lukas Defolky & Michael Fariman (Aus) 21-11, 21-10; M.R. Arjun & Ramachandran Shlok bt Raymond Tam & Eric Vuong (Aus) 21-7, 21-15; Tae In Jung & Hwi Tae Kim (Kor) bt Francis Alwin & K. Nandagopal 28-30, 8-7 retd.; Tang Jie Chen & Soon Huat Goh (Mas) bt Rohan Kapoor & Shivam Sharma 21-15, 15-21, 21-7.

Women: J. Vaishnavi Reddy bt Georgina Bland (Eng) 19-21, 21-15, 21-15. Doubles: J. Meghana & Poorvisha S. Ram bt Maggie Chan & Jodee Vega (Aus) 21-10, 21-16.