Nikhil Kanetkar and Chetan Anand overcame local favourites to enter the men's singles pre-quarterfinals of the prestigious Denmark Open badminton tournament in Aarhus.

Kanetkar came up with a spakling show to upset world number 31 Kasper Oedum 21-16, 22-20 and book a berth in the last 16, while Anand got the better off Denmark's Peter Mikkelsen 21-18, 21-18.

Kanetkar has been in fine form in the tournament and had defeated Germany's [Images] Roman Spitko in a well-contested match in the first round. He will face Malaysia's Ayob Sairul Amar, who went past Indian P Kashyap and Anand Pawar in the first and the second rounds respectively.

Pawar, however, made the world number 19 sweat as he took the first game, but the Malaysian bounced back to win the match 16-21, 21-10, 21-16.

Anand, ranked 30th in the world, will have a tough task in the third round as he faces world number six Cheng Hong of China.

Anup Sridhar lost to Dick Palyama 9-21, 5-21 in the second round on Wednesday.

In women's doubles, Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurien defeated Jennie Carlsson and Emma Wengberg of Sweden 18-21, 22-20, 21-16 in the first round to set up a clash with Novita Jo and Polii Greysia of Indonesia.