Prajnesh Gunneswaran made a stunning return from oblivion as he shocked senior pro Karan Rastogi [ Images ] in the Chennai Open singles qualifiers, on Saturday.

Prajnesh, who was a finalist in the senior national championship in 2007 and the winner of junior championship same year, scored an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win over Rastogi.

Prajnesh had trained at Spanish Tennis Academy for a few years before vanishing from the competitive scene.

Also advancing to the second round was Rohan Bopanna [ Images ] and Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash.

Bopanna progressed when his opponent Vijay Sundar Prashanth opted out of contest after losing the first set 3-6. Mohit outplayed Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2,6-2 in his first round.

Dutch star Thiemo de Bakker saw off Spain's Arnau Brugues-Davi in a compelling encounter as he beat his rival 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).

Among the defeated Indians Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Sriram Balaji put up a brave fight while Neeraj Elangovan, Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan, Akash Wagh and Abhijeet Tiwari lost tamely.

Nedunchezhiyan went down fighting to Vasek Pospisil of Canada [ Images ] 6-7 (7), 6-7 (7), Balaji lost to Rajeev Ram of USA 5-7, 4-6.