India’s shuttlers continued their good run at the Canada Open. Six singles players, including Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy, qualified for the quarter-finals in the US $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary.
Top seed Ajay Jayaram brushed aside Austria's David Obernosterer 21-10, 21-12 to set up a clash with compatriot Harsheel Dani, who defeated another India shuttler Pratul Joshi 21-9, 21-18 in a men's singles match.
In another pre-quarter-final, second seed H S Prannoy recovered from a second game slump to eke out a hard-fought 21-18, 18-21, 21-12 win over Canada's B R Sankeerth.
He will face seventh seed Brice Leverdez of France next.
Fourth seed B Sai Praneeth also reached the quarter-finals, beating Canada's Wenchao Shi 21-19, 21-12.
He will face eighth seed Raul Must of Estonia, who ended the campaign of RMV Gurusaidutt with a 21-12, 7-21, 21-17 victory.
In the women's singles, 2015 National Champion Ruthvika Shivani Gadde beat Austria's Elisabeth Baldauf 24-22, 21-18 and set up a meeting with fourth seeded Linda Zetchiri of Bulgaria.
Senior Nationals runners-up, Tanvi Lad saw off the United States’ Maya
Chen, winning 21-14, 21-15. She will met another American, Iris Wang, seeded third.
The Rio Olympics-bound women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini
Ponnappa will take on Australia's Leanne Choo and Rachel Honderich of Canada in the quarter-finals after the top seeds were given a bye in the first round.
The top seeded men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will meet Canada's Ted Chin Tai Chen and Chinese Taipei's Liao Chao Hsiang.
The Rio-bound Indian men's pair defeated the local combo of Timothy Chiu and Jason Ho-Shue 21-8, 21-10 in a pre-quarter-final match.
The mixed doubles pair of Manu Attri and Ashwini Ponnappa defeated the Canadian combo of Jonathan Lai and Michelle Tong 21-14, 21-12 and will square up against fourth seeds Nico Ruponen and Amanda Hogstrom of Sweden.
Another Indian women's doubles pair of Jakkampudi Meghana and S Poorvisha Ram will face Chinese Taipei's Hung Yi-Ting and Su Hsiang Ling after getting a bye in the opening round.
IMAGE: Ajay Jayaram
Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
