H.S.Prannoy, P Kashyap reach pre-quarterfinals of New Zealand Open

H S Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap continued their good run, reaching the pre-quarterfinals with straight-game wins in men's singles competition of the New Zealand Grand Prix Gold Auckland on Thursday.

24-year-old Prannoy, who had clinched the US Open in California last month, staved off a challenge from Indonesia's Firman Abdul Kholik 23-21, 21-18.

Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap, who had also reached the finals of the US Open, notched up a crushing win over New Zealand's Oscar Guo 21-9,



21-8.

Prannoy will meet 10th seed Hong Kong's Wei Nan, while 15th seeded Kashyap will face compatriot and seventh seed Sourabh Verma.Sourabh, seeded 7th, posted a 21-16, 21-16 win over Indonesia's Henrikho Kho Wibowo, while 16th seeded Siril Verma beat another Indonesian Saputra Vicky Angga 21-14, 21-16 to advance to the next round.

For young shuttlers -- Sahil Sipani and Neeraj Vashist -- it was the end of road after they suffered straight-game losses in the second round.