Saina Nehwal Crashes out of Japan Open; Parupalli Kashyap Lone Indian in Fray
Saina Nehwal was the second seed in Japan Open. She lost to unseeded Japanese Minatsu Mitani in straight games; In an all-Indian affair, Parupalli Kashyap ousted K. Srikanth in a Round 2 match.
Saina Nehwal's campaign in the Japan Open badminton tournament came to an end when the world No. 1 lost to unseeded Japanese Minatsu Mitani 21-13, 21-16 in just 40 minutes in a second round match in Tokyo on Thursday. (Click here for latest Badminton stories)
London Olympics quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap remained the only India in fray. In a men's singles second round match, unseeded Kashyap created an upset when he defeated third seed K. Srikanth 21-11, 21-19 to enter the last eight. Earlier, Korea's Lee Dong Keun defeated India's HS Prannoy 21-9, 21-16.
Unseeded Mitani, ranked 18 in the world, is on a giant-killing run, having accounted for India's PV Sindhu in the first round on Wednesday. India's challenge in women's singles thus comes to an end. The fancied doubles team of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had also lost on Wednesday.
Mitani was easily the better player on court on Thursday. In spite of playing a tight three-game match against Sindhu on Wednesday, Mitani looked stronger and fitter than Saina, who still leads 5-2 in head-to-heads.
The fancied Indian had beaten Thailand's unseeded Busanan Ongbumrungpan 21-14, 22-20 in the opening round. Saina had looked sketchy in both games with the Thai girl. On Thursday, Saina ran out of steam.
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Kashyap only Indian in fray
In an all-Indian Round 2 match clash, Kashyap defeated Srikanth in a contest that lasted 45 minutes. Kashyap won the first game in just 17 minutes. Before Srikanth could fathom what hit him, the game was over.
The second game was a thriller and one that Srikanth will regret losing. It went neck and neck till 5-5 when Srikanth broke free and took a seven point lead (17-10). But Kashyap clawed back steadily and showed steely nerves as Srikanth failed to convert the big points leading 19-15.
Kashyap won the second game in thrilling fashion (21-19) to clinch a quarterfinal encounter with Taipei's sixth-seeded Chou Tien Chen.