London: On a day when the Olympics was shocked by the disqualification of eight shuttlers for throwing their matches, Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian man in history to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games after securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne on Wednesday.
The 21st-ranked Kashyap had to bring in all his experience and craft into play to quell the strong challenge of his rival, ranked 27 places below him in the world chart, 21-14, 15-21, 21-9 in the pre-quarterfinal clash that lasted 66 minutes.
The 25-year-old Hyderbadi thus emulated the feat of Saina Nehwal, who became the first-ever Indian to reach the last-eight stage in the Beijing Games four years ago.
The Indian was made to work hard for every point as the Sri Lankan showed excellent retrieving power and engaged his opponent in long rallies.
Kashyap delighted a packed audience with some beautiful cross-court winner and his trademark drop shots to pocket the first game with a powerful smash.
The Sri Lankan, however, made an impressive return in the second game and involved the Indian in long rallies, forcing Kashyap to commit sideline errors.
Kashyap, however, tried to make a comeback and saved eight game points but Karunaratne clinched the game with a smash.
Kashyap said saving eight game points in the second game 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. That was the turning point of the match,” he said.
Saina won her match over the Dutch Yao Jie in straight games, 21-14, 21-16 and celebrated with a scream of delight.
The Indian star took an early lead in the first game, moving her opponent around the court with consummate ease.
It looked as though her aim was to keep the points as short as possible, however, and she was almost businesslike in her demolition of Yao.
Yao did fight back in the second game to take a 6-5 lead, but Saina raised her game and moved to 11-7.
The two traded a few points after that, but Saina played with great touch, using soft hands to outshine her opponent.
Kashyap will next face former world number one, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.
In other matches, China’s Lin Dan beat the retiring Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia in two games. (PTI)