Auckland: Indian shuttler Anand Pawar notched up straight-game victories in the first two rounds to advance to the men's singles prequarterfinals of the New Zealand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here today.

Pawar, seeded 11th, brushed aside local shuttler Joshua Curry 21-5 21-9 in a lop-sided first-round match, before taming Malaysia's Zulhelmi Zulkiffli 21-11 21-17 at the North Shore Events Centre.