EL-MONTE, U.S.A.: Ace Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and Anand Pawar progressed through to the quarterfinals of the US Open men’s singles event while Rio-bound Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also reached the last-eight round in their doubles event here on Thursday.
Fourth-seeded Jayaram overcame Portuguese opponent Pedro Martins 21-11, 21-15 in the third round, while Pawar claimed a 21-10, 21-13 win over compatriot Pratul Joshi to reach the top eight of the USD 120,000 Grand Prix Gold tournament.
Both will next face each other for a spot in the semifinals.
On the other hand, sixth-seeded B Sai Praneeth, who recently clinched the Canada Open, failed to sustain momentum after winning the opening game as he was beaten 13-21, 21-17, 22-20 by Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai in third round of men’s singles event.
Fifth-seeded H.S. Prannoy also bowed out of the tournament, losing 25-23, 23-21 to Korea's Lee Hyun.
In the men's doubles event, Attri and Reddy defeated Japanese pair of Kenya Mitsuhashi and Yuta Watanabe 23-21, 21-13 while Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha Ram advanced to the final eight after local favourites defeating Ariel and Sydney Lee 21-16, 21-6 in the women’s doubles event.
Meanwhile, Tanvi Lad crashed out of the women’s singles event after suffering a 21-17, 21-15 defeat against fifth-seeded Beiwen Zhang from USA.