New Zealand Open: Good start for India, four doubles pairs make second round

Auckland, New Zealand: India made a resounding start to their campaign at the New Zealand Open with four doubles pairs reaching the second round of the USD 120,000 Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Auckland on Wednesday. Mixed doubles pair of Manu Attri and Ashwini Ponnappa produced a thrilling performance to notch up a 21-13 10-21 21-12 win over Australia’s Robin Middleton and Australia Leanne Choo. They will next take on second seeded Korean pair of Shin Baek Cheol and Chae Yoo Jung in Auckland. [caption id=“attachment_2693024” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File Photo of Manu-Attri(R) and Sumeeth Reddy(L)[/caption] Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy also entered the second round after an easy win over local combination of Jonathan Sun and Jennifer Tam 21-8 21-9. They will meet Japanese qualifiers Takuto Inoue and Naru Shinoya next. In the men’s doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy eked out a fighting 21-11 17-21 21-16 win over Chinese Taipei’s Shang Kai Lin and Lu Ching Yao at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland. Manu and Sumeeth, who claimed their maiden Grand Prix title at Mexico Open last year, will next face Philippines’ Ronel Estanislao and Paul Jefferson Vivas. India’s Pranaav and Akshay Dewalkar also reached the second round with a comfortable 21-11 21-7 win over New Zealand’s Joshua Curry and Maoni Hu He. They will square off against seventh seeds Chen Hung Ling and Chi-Lin Wang of Chinese Taipei. PTI