Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany), Feb 25 (IANS) Indian shuttler Arvind Bhat of India entered the second round, while the mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnapppa and Vladimir Ivanov qualified for the first round of the $120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold at the RWE-Sporthalle here Tuesday.
Defending champion Bhat staved off a strong challenge from Bulgaria’s Blagovest Kisyov. The 35-year-old Indian won 21-6, 13-21, 21-15 in 40 minutes.
In the second round, Bhat will Wednesday meet the winner between local qualifier Patrick Kaemnitz and French qualifier Marin Baumann.
In the mixed doubles match, the Indo-Russian pair of Ponnappa and Ivanov first battled past Russian pair of Rodion Kargaev and Ekaterina and Bolotova 21-19, 21-16 in 30 minutes.
In the second match of the qualifying round, Ponnappa-Ivanov took just 20 minutes to demolish the French pair of Lucas Claerbout and Teshana Vignes Waran 21-11, 21-10.
In the first round, Ponnappa-Ivanov will meet local pair of Max Schwenger and Carla Nelte Wednesday.