Parupalli Kashyap stuns Zhengming Wang in India Open Super Series

Parupalli Kashyap

Parupalli Kashyap emerged victorious against China’s Zhengming Wang in a sensational encounter to advance into the second round of the Indian Open Super Series.

After failing on previous two occasions in 2012 and 2013 against Zhengming, the Indian finally overcame the World No. 7 at the USD 250,000 badminton tournament on Wednesday.

Kashyap came into this match with a strapped shoulder after incurring a partial dislocation at the German Open. He defeated Wang with a scoreline of 21-12, 17-21, 21-12 in a three-game win which went on till the hour mark.

Happy to taste success after his third attempt, Kashyap expressed his delight after his hard-fought victory. “Just so happy to be able to beat him. I lost to him twice before and he is a kind of player who reads me well. He anticipates my strokes. Today I was anticipating his stokes better,” he said in his post-match comments.

“The good thing is that today my level never dropped. I lost the second game but I did not lose my confidence. He is not among the fittest of Chinese players but he is good with his strokes and movements on court,” he said.

“He has often caught me at the net in the last meetings. I thought his speed dropped a bit in the third game. I wanted to maintain my game and I also got some good points on the net.”

Kashyap’s compatriots Saurabh Verma and RMV Gurusaidutt also booked their places in the second round after picking up wins against Vladimir Ivanov and Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou respectively. The Russian Ivanov fell short after losing 21-16 17-21 21-14, while Gurusaidatt inflicted a 17-21 21-16 21-17 loss on the Chinese.

However, there was disappointment for Indian fans too, as PV Sindhu crashed out of the tournament, losing to Chinese World No. 3 Shixian Wang 15-21, 21-12, 10-21 in a marathon match which lasted an hour and nine minutes.

Moreover, it wasn’t a happy ending for several other Indians in the competition including the likes of H S Prannoy, B Sai Praneeth, Anand Pawar and Shreyansh Jaiswal who made an early exit. The highly-rated Thailand Grand Prix Gold winner K Srikanth joined the wagon as he endured a 18-21 18-21 loss to Takuma Ueda of Japan.

World No. 2 Chen Long picked up a two-game win against Prannay, defeating him 21-15 21-9, while Pawar couldn’t hold on to his stubborn showing as he was shown the way out by Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark after losing 10-21 21-19 6-21.

Shreyansh Jaiswal came out second best against French international Brice Leverdez with a score of 15-21 24-22 13-21 and his fellow countryman Praneeth lost 21-16 10-21 19-21 to yet another Chinese player, Pengyu DU.

The women’s singles division saw Sayali Gokhale and Trupti Murgunde make it to the 2nd round after registering wins against Tanvi Lad and Mudra Dhainje respectively. Sayali convincingly defeated Tanvi 21-17 21-10 while Trupti edged out Mudra 24-22 12-21 21-18 with a hard fought victory.

But the road to the next round ended for Saili Rane, Shruti Mundada and PC Thulasi. Thulasi battled well before losing 18-21 21-17 18-21 to Shizuka Uchida of Japan, while Saili couldn’t overcome Japan’s Minatsu Mitani and lost 16-21 8-21. In another women’s singles match, Shruti did not fare well against China’s Xin Liu where she saw herself beaten over two games with a 12-21 8-21 score.