File photo of Ashwini Ponnappa (left) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa on Tuesday advanced to the second round of the Thailand Open following a hard-fought win over Indonesia's Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.
Satwiksairaj and Ashwini defeated their Indonesian opponent 21-11, 27-29, 21-16 in the opening round contest which lasted one hour and 12 minutes.
The Indian duo will next face the Chinese pair of Chang Tak Ching and Ng Wing Yung for a place in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy have withdrawn from the tournament after testing positive for Covid-19.
"Two Indian players, Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy, have tested positive for Covid-19. Both players have withdrawn from the tournament and have been isolated in a hospital for a minimum of 10 days," the Badminton Association of India (BAI) confirmed on their official Twitter handle.
"BAI is in constant touch with BWF, team management, players and organiser," it added.
Saina slated to take on Kisona Selvaduray of Malaysia in her opening round contest on Tuesday who has now been given a walkover. Prannoy, on the other hand, was slated to take on Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in his opening round contest.
Saina's husband Parupalli Kashyap has also withdrawn from the tournament. Kashyap was to take on Jason Anthony Ho-Shue of Canada in his opening round contest. Jason has been given a walkover.
