Badminton: Kashyap advances, Verma bows out of Macau Open

Macau: Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap advanced into the second round of the $120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here on Wednesday.

Kashyap, who is making a comeback after a long break, defeated Chun-Wei Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-19 21-8 in a match which lasted for 33 minutes.

In another match, Sameer Verma, who was in the spotlight after reaching the final at the recently-concluded Hong Kong Open, was defeated by Muhammad Bayu Pangisthu of Indonesia 18-21, 13-21 in the opening round in 35 minutes of play.

In the men's doubles category, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy edged past Chan Alan Yun Lung and Li Kuen Hon of Hong Kong to advance.

The Indian pair defeated the Hong Kong duo 21-11, 17-21, 21-9 in 40 minutes.

Among other shuttlers, Sai Parneeth and top seeds Saina Nehwal will play their respective matches later in the day.