Satwik-Ashwini advance at Thailand Open badminton

Bangkok  :   India's mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa advanced to the second round of the Thailand Open badminton tournament here on Tuesday.

Satwik and Ashwini edged past Akbar Bintang Cahyono and Winny Oktavina Kandow of Indonesia 19-21, 21-14, 21-17 in round one match which lasted 48 minutes.

The Indian pair lost the first game but they bounced back in style to win the next two matches to enter the second round. 

Among other shuttlers, Shreyansh Jaiswal, Rahul Yadav and Kartikey Gulshan Kumar failed to qualify for the main round as they lost their matches in the qualifiers in men's singles category.

On Wednesday, India will be represented in the men's singles category by Sameer Verma and Parupalli Kashyap, who has recovered from a stress fracture on his shin. 

Sameer Verma will lock horns with Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in the opening round while Kashyap will face China's top seed Shi Yuqi in the opening round.

Among other shuttlers, P.V. Sindhu will open her campaign against Bulgaria's Linda Zetchiri in women's singles event, while Saina Nehwal will take on Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the first round.