Rising badminton star Sai Praneeth enters third round of Bitburger Open

Saarbrucken, Germany: Rising India shuttler B Sai Praneeth entered the third round of the men's singles competition of the Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold after a straight-game win over Indonesia's Andre Kurniawan Tedjono here.

Praneeth, seeded 16th, registered a 24-22 21-17 win over his opponent in a contest that lasted 46 minutes in the second round of the USD 120,000 event here last night.

The 23-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad will next clash with fifth seeded Rajiv Ouseph of England for a place in the last eight stage of the tournament.

Praneeth will be facing Rajiv for the first time in his career.

Later on Thursday, star Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will take on the Dutch combination of Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling in a second round match.