P. Kashyap and P.V. Sindhu are going through contrasting times in their career. Kashyap, struggling with a nagging shoulder injury, is busy looking for positives from every outing but clearly worried about his fall in rankings.
Sindhu, with victories over almost all the leading names of the game in the last two years, is looking to reinforce her place in the world’s top-10 rankings.
But on Wednesday, the opening round of the $250,000 Yonex Sunrise India Open badminton championship here, Kashyap enjoyed a ‘revenge’ victory before Sindhu experienced how it feels when a rival avenges a defeat.
Looking motivated and keen to make amends for the lost opportunities, Kashyap upstaged world number seven Wang Zhengming, seeded six, 21-12, 17-21, 21-12 in an hour to win for the first time in three meetings against the Chinese.
Sindhu, seeded nine, would have started as underdog against the second seed Wang Shixian had she not won all three previous encounters against the former world number one. But today, the Chinese managed to turn the tables in three games, winning 13 points on the trot in the decider for a 21-15, 12-21, 21-10 victory.
Too many errors
The 18-year-old committed far too many unforced errors in her bid to prolong the rallies in the deciding game where the reigning all-England champion broke away from 3-4 to lead 16-4.
“I had less to lose since Sindhu had beaten me three times already. So I played my game and managed to win,” said Shixian. Sindhu pointed to her high percentage of negative points in the third game as the main reason for the loss.
Kashyap, down to 24th in the world rankings, produced his best in the decider, controlling the net, keeping his rival guessing and coming up with a series of finishing strokes. Kashyap won the first four points, never trailed and sealed victory by claiming five points on the trot.
Kashyap next faces 30th ranked R.M.V. Gurusaidutt, who battled to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou, ranked 25th, in three games.
B. Sai Praneeth had the chance to surprise world number eight Du Pengyu but could not capitalise on a 15-12 lead in the decider.
Anand Pawar raised visions of upsetting fourth-seeded Dane Jan O Jorgensen but ran out of steam in the decider.
Select results (first round, featuring Indians):
Men: Sourabh Verma bt Vladimir Ivanov (Rus) 21-16, 17-21, 21-14; P. Kashyap bt Wang Zhengming (Chn) 21-12, 17-21, 21-12; Du Pengyu (Chn) bt B. Sai Praneeth 16-21, 21-10, 21-19; R.M.V. Gurusaidutt bt Tien Chen Chou (Tpe) 17-21, 21-16, 21-17; Jan O Jorgensen (Den) bt Anand Pawar 21-10, 19-21, 21-6; Ueda Takuma (Jpn) bt K. Srikanth 21-18, 21-18; Brice Leverdez (Fra) bt Shreyansh Jaiswal 21-15, 22-24, 21-13.
Women:Singles: Sayali Gokhale bt Tanvi Lad 21-17, 21-10; Trupti Murgunde bt Mudra Dhainje 24-22, 12-21, 21-18; Shizuka Uchida (Jpn) bt P.C. Thulasi 21-18, 17-21, 21-18; Wang Shixian (Chn) bt P.V. Sindhu 21-15, 12-21, 21-10. Doubles: G. Jwala & Ashwini Ponappa bt Chayanit Chaladchalam & Munkitamorn Peeraya (Tha) 21-10, 17-21, 21-14.
