Orleans (France), Mar 5 (PTI) India's Ayush Shetty produced a sensational straight-game victory over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, while HS Prannoy also advanced to the second round of the USD 240,000 Orleans Masters with a gritty three-game win on Wednesday.

World No. 42 Ayush, the 2023 World Junior Championships bronze medallist, stunned third seed Loh 21-17, 21-9, recording one of the biggest wins of his career to move into the second round. He will next face Hong Kong's Jason Gunawan.

Also Read | FIFA Announces First-Ever Half-Time Show For 2026 World Cup Final.

Prannoy, making his comeback after a long layoff due to illness, fought for 79 minutes to defeat Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei 21-11, 20-22, 21-9. He sets up a clash with second-seeded Taiwanese player Chun-Yi Lin in the next round.

In mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde secured a thrilling 20-22, 24-22, 21-16 win over Chinese Taipei's Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan to advance to the second round. The Indian duo will now meet third-seeded Chinese Taipei pair of Po-Hsuan Yang and Ling Fang Hu.

Also Read | South Africa vs New Zealand ICC Champions Trophy 2025: BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla Watches Semifinal in Lahore with PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi (Watch Video).

However, Kiran George and Unnati Hooda failed to progress past the first round in singles. George lost 21-15, 16-21, 10-21 to world No. 25 Jia Heng Teh of Singapore, while Hooda was defeated 9-21, 15-21 by world No. 1 An Se Young of Korea.

Malvika Bansod, meanwhile, retired midway through her second game after trailing 6-21, 6-15 in her opening match.

Another mixed doubles pair, Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh, also fell in the opening round, losing 10-21, 15-21 to top seeds Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei of Malaysia.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)