Young Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen, Mithun Manjunath, BM Rahul Bhardwaj, Kiran George progressed to the pre-quarter-finals of the SaarLorLux Open Super Tour 100 in Germany on Wednesday.
Lakshya Sen and Mithun Manjunath had a bye in the opening round and began their campaign in the second round.
Dutch Open champion Sen, the eighth seed, was tested in his opener by Finland’s Eetu Heino. He ultimately prevailed 21-18, 18-21, 22-20 in a tight third game after 56 minutes. Sen will next face Lars Schaenzler.
Mithun got the better of Yee Han Chong of Malaysia 21-15, 21-14 in his first match. He will take on fifth seed Toby Penty next.
Bhardwaj beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer 21-13, 21-15 in a match that lasted 40 minutes. He had earlier beaten Belgium’s Rowan Scheurkogel 21-15, 21-9 in the opening round. He will take on Nhat Nguyen next.
Earlier in the day, George beat France’s sixth seed Toma Junior Popov in straight games. The reigning junior national champion registered a 21-18 21-11 win over Popov in a 36-minute men’s singles match to set up a meeting with Netherland’s Joran Kweekel.
The Kerala shuttler, who had won the JE Wilson International Series in July this year, had defeated China’s Liu Hai Chao 21-17 21-13 in the opening round on Tuesday night.
The Indian men’s doubles pairing of Vaibhaav and Prakash Raj entered the pre-quarters after overcoming Malaysia’s Amri Ameer and Muhammad Idham Zainal Abi Syazmil in the opening round.
Vaibhaav and Prakash notched up a thrilling 16-21 21-14 21-16 win over the Malaysian pair in 45 minutes. The Indian duo will next face fourth seeds Alexander Dunn and Adam Hall of Scotland.
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