Chetan crashes out of German Open GP, Sridhar advances in 2nd Rd

Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany, Feb 28 (UNI) Top Indian shuttler Chetan Anand made a shock exit from the German Open Grand Prix event, losing to Erwin Kellhoffner of France in the first round here today.

The Indian, seeded 13th in the tournament, lost 18-21, 20-22 to the 88th-ranked Frenchman in just 27 minutes.

Fellow Indians, P Kashyap and Nikhil Kanetkar also fell to their more fancied opponents in the other first round matches.

While Kashyap gave a semblance of fight to world number 33 Kaspar Oedum of Denmark in his 16-21, 20-22 loss, Kanetkar went down tamely 16-21, 14-21 against ninth seeded Lee Hui Kendrick of Singapore.

However, Anup Sridhar and Anand Pawar saved the day for the Indians and sailed into the second round overcoming early jitters.

Sridhar clawed his way back from one game down to beat Indonesian qualifier Andreas Adityawarman 18-21, 21-9, 23-21 in a 44-minute contest, while Pawar overcame Malaysia's Sairul Amar Ayob 19-21, 21-14, 21-18 in 48 minutes.

UNI