Dutch Open: Sameer, Lakshya, Rahul enter pre-quarters

Top seed Sameer Verma, young shuttlers Lakshya Sen and BM Rahul Bharadwaj progressed to the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s singles competition at the Dutch Open Super 100 tournament on Wednesday.

Sameer, who had skipped events at China and Korea due to fitness issues, notched up a 21-19, 19-21, 21-13 win over fellow Indian Kiran George in the second round. He had received a bye in the opening round.

He will face either Japan’s Yusuke Onodera or Germany’s Lars Schaenzler next.

Lakshya Sen, who had claimed the Belgian Open last month, also entered the pre-quarterfinals after registering straight-game wins in the first two rounds.

The 18-year-old from Almora defeated Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-19, 21-17 in the opening round on Tuesday and then outclassed Cuba’s Osleni Guerrero 21-12 21-12 on Wednesday.

The Asian Junior champion will face Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke next.

Rahul too advanced to the next round after beating Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei 21-18, 21-13 in another match.

He will lock horns with the winner of the match between two Danish players - sixth seed Victor Svendsen and Jeppe Bruun.

However, Sourabh Verma, who had won the Hyderabad Open and Vietnam Open this year, went down 17-21, 21-10, 19-21 to Germany’s Kai Schaefer in a second-round contest. The 26-year-old had got a bye in the first round.