P.V. Sindhu and Sameer Verma advanced to the quarterfinals with straight-game wins in their respective women's and men's singles preliminaries of the USD 600,000 Korea Super Series.
However, it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap and B. Sai Praneeth—both of whom bowed out of the tournament after losing their second-round men's singles matches.
Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu saw off Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol 22-20 21-17 to set up a clash with Japan's Minatsu Mitani, who won a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships and had also defeated Saina Nehwal in the finals to clinch the 2012 French Open title.
Hong Kong Super Series finalist and Syed Modi Grand Prix gold winner Sameer defeated Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-19 21-13 in 41 minutes. He will need to raise his game by a few notches when he faces local hot favourite Son Wan Ho.
Son Wan, seeded top, had to dig deep to end Kashyap's run. He battled for an hour and 16 minutes before getting the better of the Indian 21-16 17-21 21-16 to reach the last- eight stage.
Praneeth fought hard before going down 13-21 24-26 to seventh seeded Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei in a contest that lasted 40 minutes.
In men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty showcased rising Indian prowess in men's doubles, beating seventh seeded Chinese Taipei combo of Lee Jhe-Huei and Lee Yang 23-21 16-21 21-8 in 51 minutes in a second round match.
The young Indian duo will make their maiden appearance in a Superseries quarterfinal tomorrow. They will next take on third-seeded Japanese combination of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda.
