Saina, Prannoy advance to second round of French Open Super Series

Saina Newal, H S Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth have advanced to the second round of the French Open Super Series in Paris.

Glasgow World Championship bronze medallist Saina staved off a spirited challenge from Denmark's Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt 21-14 11-21 21-10 and is likely to clash with Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in a revenge match.

Earlier, US Open champion Prannoy,sent packing Korea's Lee Hyun Il 21-15 21-17, while Praneeth beat Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab 21-13 21-23 21-19.Praneeth will face Japanese Kenta



Nishimoto in his next match. Prannoy, will square off against Denmark's Hans- Kristian Solberg Vittinghus next.

Women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy made quick work of England's Jenny Moore and Victoria Williams 21-12 21-12 to also make a positive start to the tournament.

However, it turned out to be a frustrating day for Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap as his gallant fight ended with a narrow 23-21 18-21 17-21 loss to Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.