Indian shuttlers H S Prannoy and Sameer Verma continued their winning run in the men's singles competition to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the USD 120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold here.
In late night matches, 13th seed Prannoy beat Germany's Lars Schaenzler 21-16 21-13 in a little over half an hour match to set up a meeting with 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Rajiv Ouseph of England, seeded sixth.
Young Sameer also continued to punch above his weight, notching up a stunning 21-19 22-20 win over fourth seed Chinese Wang Zhengming. He will next take on Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk, seeded 16th.
However, it was the end of 11th seed Ajay Jayaram's campaign as his fight ended with a narrow 21-23 18-21 loss to Kenichi Tago of Japan last night.
B Sai Praneeth also made it to the pre-quarterfinals after prevailing over Uzbekistan's Artyom Savatyugin 21-7 21-10. He will next take on second seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
Two-time champion and top seed Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu also reached the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles competition.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina saw off Germany's Karin Schnaase 21-7 21-15 in 33 minutes to set up a meeting with Czech's Kristina Gavnholt at St Jakobshalle here.
Double World Championships bronze winner Sindhu, seeded sixth, sent Ireland's Chole Magee packing 21-19 21-10 in a 31-minute first round match. She will face Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei in the pre-quarterfinals.
Praneeth then took the court for the second singles and
dished out a gruelling performance to edge out world number 14 Hu Yun 23-21 23-21 in a 47-minute contest.
However, the euphoria was shortlived as Satwiksairaj and Chirag went down 10-21 11-21 to Tsz Kit Chan and Cheuk Him Law in the fourth rubber.
Senior Nationals runners-up, Sourabh, who is making a comeback after a series of injuries, played out of his skin to upset world number 17 Nan Wei 17-21 21-19 21-9 in the third singles.
Indian men, who have qualified for the Thomas Cup Final only eighth times since its inception in 1948-49, will next take on Indonesia in a Group B match tomorrow.
India had not qualified for the knockout stage till 2006. The men's team broke the jinx by reaching the quarterfinals in Japan. They also reached the final eight in 2010. In the last edition, India could not go beyond the group stage.
