India's Arvind Bhat and Anand Pawar crossed the first round hurdle, but it was curtains for compatriots P Kashyap and Ajay Jayaram in the men's singles at the German Open Grand Prix Gold badminton in Mulheim an der Ruhr.
Former National champion Bhat entered the second round after Scott Evans retired midway at 21-9, while Pawar defeated Eetu Heino of Finland 21-12, 21-16.
However, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kashyap lost to Singapore's Zi Liang Derek Wong 15-21, 21-23, while Jayaram suffered a 9-21, 19-21 defeat against fifth seed Simon Santoso of Indonesia.
Bhat will now take on fourth seed Korean Hyun Il Lee in the second round, while Pawar is up against Santoso.
India's mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta also failed to cross the first round hurdle, losing 21-18, 9-21, 19-21 to Wai Hong Wong and Hoi Wah Chau of Hong Kong in 51 minutes.
