Glasgow : Indian shuttler Anand Pawar entered the men’s singles second round as compatriot Aditya Prakash crashed out of the $50,000 Scottish Open Grand Prix, losing his opener at the Emirates Arena on Thursday. Eleventh seed Pawar needed just 43 minutes on Wednesday to ease past local boy Kieran Merrilees 21-18, 21-18 to earn his second win over the Scot in as many matches. Later, Englishman Sam Parsons accounted for Prakash as the Indian lost 4-21, 20-22 in 28 minutes.
Srikanth, Kashyap drop in rankings Kuala Lumpur :
India’s Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap dropped two places each to be seventh and 15th, respectively, in the world badminton rankings released on Thursday. Srikanth performed poorly at the China Open last week and Hong Kong Open this week, while 2014 Commonwealth Games (CWG) champion Kashyap didn’t compete last week as well as this week. However, H.S. Prannoy jumped two spots to be 19th, while Ajay Jayaram moved a place to 24th in the rankings continued to be topped by China’s Chen Long. Malaysian veteran Lee Chong Wei has been rewarded for his China Open triumph with a jump of three places to sixth. In the women’s singles, double World Championships bronze medallist P.V. Sindhu has improved a place to 12th, while 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal remained at No.2. Reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China has also gained three places to be fourth after winning her home championship last week.
