Gopi Chand in fourth round

NEW DELHI, JULY 7: National champion Pullela Gopi Chand has stormed into the fourth round of Thailand Open badminton championships beating local hope Krid Chuay Narong 15-10 15-11 in bangkok today.

Gopichand, who received a bye in the first round here, edged past Narong in a tightly-contested tie to reach the pre-quarterfinals, according to results provided by AFP here.

The top Indian shuttler, slotted in 9th to 16th seedings in the bottom half of the draw, will meet China’s Chen Hong in the round of 16. Hong (5/8) beat Malaysian Ayob Salrul Amar 15-9, 15-13 to make the pre-quarters.

India’s Nikhil Kanetkar was knocked out on the opening day yesterday in the second round by ace Malaysian Rashid Sidek.