Badminton: Pair in third round

Mixed doubles pair Dan Shirley and Sara Runesten Petersen have progressed to the third round in the $US170,000 ($241,100) Danish Open in Aarhus.

They chalked up their second win yesterday while their New Zealand team-mates found the going harder in the five-star tournament.

Geoff Bellingham and John Gordon lost their first-round matches in the men's singles while the same fate awaited Rebecca Bellingham and Rachel Hindley in the women's singles.

Shirley and Runesten Petersen yesterday beat a Danish pair, including Jonas Rasmussen, 15-10, 15-13 and next meet a Malaysian combination ranked No 8 in the world.