India’s Parupalli Kashyap made a resounding start to his campaign at the Badminton Asia Championship, thrashing Singapore’s Zi Liang Derek Wong in straight games to reach the second round of the continental championship on Tuesday.
Commonwealth Games champion, Kashyap, who held a 4-2 record against his rival before the match, outplayed Wong 21-17 21-13 in a 39-minute contest at the Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium.
The 28-year-old from Hyderabad will next take on Ya Ching Hsu of Chinese Taipei on Wednesday.
Kashyap has beaten Hsu twice, the last being at the India Super Series last month at the Siri Fort Complex in New Delhi.
Bolstered by the opening game win, Kashyap dished out a more dominating performance in the second game as he zoomed to a 9-1 lead. The Singaporean tried to make a comeback but Kashyap held his fort comfortably till the end.
“I was able to control the speed of the game better than him today. I was moving well and played some good attacking strokes and smashes,” Kashyap told PTI .
“My dribbles were also good. I’m happy to win in straight games today. It’s a good start to the tournament. The conditions are slow so there will be long rallies here. I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he added.
