Sai Praneeth wins, curtains for Jwala-Gutta in Bitburger Open

Ace women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa suffered a second round loss even as rising India shuttler B Sai Praneeth entered the third round of the men's singles competition at the Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold here today.
Seeded second, Jwala and Ashwini fought tooth and nail before going down 21-23 21-13 24-26 to less-fancied Dutch pair of Samantha Barning and Iris Tabeling in a keenly-contested 51-minute encounter of the USD 120,000 event at the Saarlandhalle Saarbrucken.
This was World No.11 Jwala and Ashwini's first loss to the World No.34 Dutch girls in three outings. The Indian pair had received a bye in the first round.

However, it was good news for India in the men's singles competition as Praneeth, seeded 16th, registered a 24-22 21-17 win over Tedjono in a second second round contest that lasted 46 minutes.
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.