Five Indians enter main draw in men's singles

MUMBAI: Five Indians qualified for the men's singles main draw of 32 in the Tata Open India Badminton Challenge at the Cricket Club of India courts on Tuesday.
Advancing to the main round were Bahal Mayank, Jolly Prakash, Rohan Castelino, Nigel D'Sa and K Nandagopal. D'Sa was taken the distance by his rival in the last qualifying round.
D'Sa fought back from a game down to pack off Thailand's Sirivat Matayanumati 17-21 21-8 22-20 in 43 minutes.
Son of former doubles specialist Leroy, D'Sa will meet Indonesia's Riyanto Subagja in the first round tomorrow.
Behal, Castelino and Nandagopal won in straight games against their opponents from Nepal.
Nandagopal allowed Indra Mahata fight his way back from 14-20 to 18-20 before clinching the issue with a smash. He won 21-13 21-18 in 20 minutes.
Castelino and Behal ousted Bibek Shreshta and Bishal Pradhan 21-13 21-8 and 21-13 21-14 in 20 and 25 minutes respectively.
Jolly brushed aside Bangladesh's Uddin Md Rais 21-17 21-8 in half an hour to earn a first-round meeting against another qualifier, Lee Jian Jee of Malaysia, who advanced with a 21-17 21-6 victory over Bangla rival Mostafa Mohammed Jabed.