Kashyap in quarters, awaits top seed Lee Chong Wei

Parupalli Kashyap continued his dream run in the London Olympics men’s singles championship as he got past Sri Lankan giant-killer Niluka Karunaratne in a pre-quarterfinal match at the Wembley Arena on Wednesday morning. Kashyap becomes the first Indian to enter an Olympic quarterfinal. Saina Nehwal did this in the women’s singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Kashyap defeated the plucky Lankan 21-14, 15-21 and 21-9 and is in line to face the No. 1 seed of the Olympics, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. “I just can’t believe this. If it happens, it will be a dream come true to face the top seed in an Olympic quarterfinal,” Kashyap said.

The Indian shuttler showed stronger nerves. Even if he lost the second game, Kashyap saved eight game points to win a psychological battle that paid the dividends in the decider. Kashyap identified that as the difference between win and a loss.

"That was the turning point of the match. After the first game he started to read my game so I needed to slow it down and he got confused with my game, Kashyap said."

Ranked 21 in the competition, Kashyap looked in command against the Lankan, who was a surprise qualifier to the Round of 16. The 25-year-old from Hyderabad needed all off 66 minutes to win a match that saw many long rallies.

Karunaratne admitted the Indian came out a stronger opponent. "This was the quarterfinals and I wanted to give him a good fight. I was a bit nervous in the first game and lost my focus. But I recovered and was much more focused and relaxed in the second game. Unfortunately he was very strong in the third, though."

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Kashyap in quarters, awaits top seed Lee Chong Wei

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