India’s Parupalli Kashyap entered the pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton Asia Championships as he outclassed Chinese Taipei’s Chu Han Chou in straight games today.
Kashyap took just 31 minutes to get past Chu and set up a quarterfinal duel with China’s Gao Huan. Apart from a brief session earlier, the Indian led throughout. From 7-all in the first game, he rapidly moved ahead 16-10, and even though Chu came within a point at 15-16, the Indian stepped on the pedal and won the first game 21-17.
Kashyap had it much easier in the second game, leading from start to finish. Chu made a belated fightback by saving three match points, but Kashyap closed it out on the fourth, to seal a 21-17 21-19 verdict. He will play Gao Huan, against whom he has a 1-1 record, later today. Gao Huan won their first encounter in 2009, but Kashyap took revenge in their last match, at the China Masters in September 2012. Both matches were close three game encounters, but the Indian will be favourite as he heads in to this evening’s session.
Several other Indians were due to take court later today, including Sai Praneeth, PV Sindhu, and Ashwini Ponnappa/Pradnya Gadre. Earlier, on Wednesday, Olympic champion Lin Dan, playing his first competitive match in seven months, easily got past Tuan Duc Do of Vietnam 21-12 21-6 to set up a second-round match with the third seeded Hu Yun of Hong Kong.
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