Aparna Popat marches ahead

Railway8217;s Thomas Kurien became the first casualty when the seasoned Utsav Mishra Uttar Pradesh prevailed over the youngster 15-9, 10-15, 15-10 and set up a second round tie with Saumen Bhattacharjee West Bengal.

The Bengal shuttler beat Sanyasi Rao of Andhra pradesh 15-8, 15-10 on the side court.

Utsav played a tactical match by engaging his dangerous opponent into long rallies before turning aggressive. This unsettled Thomas, who prefers dribble and smash game.

The UP shuttler raced to 10-2 lead before Thomas clawed hisway back right upto 10-9, but Utsav had his chances and won the game 15-9. After losing the second game 10-15, Utsav concentrated on keeping the shuttle in play for longer period which again put pressure on Thomas and subsequently he succumbed in the decider.

Kerala8217;s Roopesh Kumar scored an inspiring 14-17, 15-2, 15-6 win over Sanket Shetty of Maharashtra while Vivek Gautam Mah was stretched to three games by Mayur Ghatnekar Rlys before winning 15-9 10-15 15-10.

In other exciting action, Karnataka8217;s D Guruprasad beat Vijay Sharma Del 7-15, 15-11, 15-5, Railways Arup Baidya defeated PSB Nagendra Kar 8-15, 15-8, 15-4 and veteran Rajiv Bagga of Maharashtra trounced Pankaj Panday Del 15-6, 15-12.