Second seed Indian Chetan Anand suffered a shock defeat but P Kashyap and Arvind Bhat notched up contrasting wins to reach the quarterfinals of the Indian Open Grand Prix in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Back in the court after missing the Asian Games because of an injury, Chetan lost 15-21, 15-21 to Thai Suppanyu Avihingsanon in a 29-minute match in the men's singles.
However, third seed Kashyap beat fellow Indian HS Prannoy 21-15, 21-13 in a match that lasted 30 minutes, while seventh seed Arvind Bhat staved off the challenge of Zi Liang Derek Wong of Singapore 19-21, 21-10, 23-21 in another match.
Kashyap will take on Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia on Friday, while Arvind will face off Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand.
Aditya Elango also reached the final eight after Ajay Jayaram retired midway at 19-21 in another men's singles match.
In the women's singles, Neha Pandit beat compatriot Mudra Dahinje 21-18, 21-12.
PV Sindhu also notched up a 21-16, 21-10 victory over Indonesian Febby Angguni to set up a clash with compatriot Anita Ohlan, who beat another Indian Tanvi Lad 21-19, 20-22, 21-14.
Fourth seed Pranav Chopra and Prajakta Sawant also reached the quarters with a 21-8, 21-8 spanking of Sri Lankan Nuwan Hettiarachchi and Renu Chandrika Hettiarachchige in the mixed doubles category.
Second seeds Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan will face compatriots Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa on Friday.
Prannoy and B Sumeeth Reddy set up a clash with top seed Malaysian Teik Chai Gan and Bin Shen Tan, while Sai Praneeth B and Nandagopal K will meet Singaporean pair of Hendri Kurniawan Saputra and Chayut Triyachart on Friday.
