Patna: Top shuttlers, including defending champion Sameer Verma, H S Prannoy and Tanvi Lad, reached the third round of the men's singles and women's singles competition at the 81st Senior National Championship here on Saturday.
Seeded second Sameer knocked out Shyam Prasad 21-8 21-9 in a lop-sided contest while top seed Prannoy beat Saurabh Pandeyar 21-10 21-12.
Fourteenth seed Lakshya Sen, who recently reached the World NO. 1 junior ranking, thrashed Lalhlimpuia 21-14 21-8 while fourth seed Harsheel Dani defeated Ankur Sangpang Rai 21-11 21-11.
Aditya Prakash shocked sixth seed Shreyansh Jaiswal 19-21 21-17 21-11 in another match, while Siril Varma also reached the next round.
Former champion Sourabh Varma, seeded third, defeated Nikhilesh Sarma 21-10 21-12, while fifth seed Pratul Joshi, Subhankar Dey and 15th seed Ansal Yadav also reached the next round.
In women's singles, top seed Tanvi Lad brushed aside Preety Singh 21-12 21-11, while second seeded Rituparna Das staved off a challenge from Kanika Kanwal 21-11 16-21 21-10 and 14th seed Arundhati Pantawane beat Mudra Dhainje 23-21 21-12.
Among others, 10th seed Shruti Mundada, sixth seed Anura Prabhudesai, third seed Sri Krishna Priya K, 12th seed Anuriya Das, seventh seed Shriyanshi Pardeshi, fourth seed Sai Uttejitha Rao Ch, ninth seed Reshma Karthik, 16th seed Shenan Christian also reached the next round in women's singles.
Eighth seed Riya Pillai beat Yoshita Mathur 21-8 21-11, while 13th seed Rasika Raje spanked Deyashi Kanjibillya 21-8 21-9 and fifth seed Neha Pandit knocked out Sanya Sethi 21-9 21-13 in another match.
