Malaysia Masters: Sai Praneeth, Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy Advance

Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth and the women's doubles duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the USD 120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Wednesday. Praneeth got the better of Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-13, 21-13 in 44 minutes in the first round. Ashwini-Sikki took only 25 minutes to ease past Germany's Johanna Goliszewski and Lara Kaepplein 21-15, 21-12. In the men's singles category, Danish reignging world champion Viktor Axelsen became the sole survivor among the top players as China's Lin Dan, Chen Long, South Korea's Son Wan- ho and Malaysian veteran Lee Chong Wei were eliminated in the first round.

With the Premier Badminton League coming to an end last Sunday, Indian shuttlers, including P Kashyap and B Sai Praneeth, decided to take part in the Malaysia Masters, which is one of the seven BWF World Tour Super 500 event. However, it was a dismal start to the international calender for most Indians as they failed to cross the opening hurdle on Tuesday.

(With PTI Inputs)