Gurusaidutt advances

Indian shuttlers had a good day at the Canada Open as R.M.V. Gurusaidutt, Pratul Joshi and Harsheel Dani crossed the opening hurdle to reach the second round of the $55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament here.

Gurusaidutt brushed aside Austria’s Rudiger Gnedt 21-7, 21-6 to set up a clash with local shuttler Jonathan Lai. Pratul defeated Canada’s Byron Holcek 21-13, 21-12 and will take on Alistair Casey of Scotland in the next round. Harsheel beat Canada’s Timothy Chiu 21-11, 21-14. He doesn’t have a match in the second round as his opponent Vietnam’s Tien Minh Nguyen has withdrawn.

The results (first round): Men: R.M.V. Gurusaidutt bt Rudiger Gnedt (Aut) 21-7, 21-6; Pratul Joshi bt Byron Holcek (Can) 21-13, 21-12; Harsheel Dani bt Timothy Chiu (Can) 21-11, 21-14.