India's young shuttlers have started the German Open Super 300 tournament in an impressive fashion with wins in their first two rounds and are all geared up to face their respective opponents in the round of 16 fixtures on Thursday, February 29.
Sathish Karunakaran, ranked 50th in the BWF men's singles world rankings, got the better of Misha
Zilberman of Israel to get his campaign underway.
The fixture saw Zilberman and Karunakaran give a tough fight to each other. The Indian shuttler took the first game 21-18 but the Israeli came back strongly to take the second 21-19.
The third game promised to be a mouth-watering contest and that's what it turned out to be. Both players matched each other shot for shot and the game went right down to the wire.
Karunakaran held his nerve in the end and clinched the contest 21-18, 19-21 and 21-19. He will face Italy's Nhat Nguyen in the round of 16.
On the other hand, Aakarshi Kashyap also featured in an energy-sapping battle to move into the second round. Aakarshi took on Polina Buhrova of Ukraine in the round and displayed tremendous grit and determination to beat her.
The Ukrainian shuttler won the opening game 23-21 after waging a tough battle against the 22-year-old Indian.
However, the tables turned upside down as Aakarshi came back from behind to wrestle back the momentum and won the second game 21-17.
Polina looked crestfallen in the third game and Aakarshi left no stone unturned to assert her dominance and won it 21-11.
India's hopes are soaring higher in the women's doubles category as the 23rd-ranked pair of Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand has also moved into the round of 16. Gayatri and Treesa defeated the duo of HSU Yin-Hui and LIN Jhih Yun of Taiwan 18-21, 21-11, 21-13.
