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.