Kashyap’s Korean quest continues INDIA START CAMPAIGN SANS STARS
WORLD ATHLETICS
Incheon, 26: Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap on Thursday advanced to the Korea Open men’s singles quarterfinal after a threegame triumph over Malaysia’s Daren Liew here.
The 33-year-old from Hyderabad prevailed 2117, 11-21, 21-12 over Daren, who is a 2018 World Championship bronze medallist, in a contest that lasted 56 minutes.
He will next square off against former world no 2, Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen, an opponent he last played five years ago at the Denmark Open.
The 31-year-old Danish shuttler beat eight seeded Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 17-21, 21-16, 21-13 in 58 minutes.
Overall, Kashyap has a 2-4 record against Jorgensen, a 2015 World Championship bronze medallist.
“In the first patch in the second game he was playing really well. I was struggling and once he had a big lead, he played some very good shot. It was tough to make the scores equal.
“In the third game, I pushed the tempo and played a fast-paced game. I didn’t give him a big lead.”
On playing Jorgensen after a long gap, Kashyap said: “It would be a good match. He beat Ginting, so he is in good form. I don’t know why he didn’t play China Open. It will be a tough match. Let’s see.” The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist is the lone Indian left in the fray in the World Tour Super 500 tournament. Sept. Doha, Sept. 26: Medal is too far-fetched a thought and even hopes of making the finals seem barely believable as India enter the World Athletics Championship without two of their biggest stars — the injured Neeraj Chopra and Hima Das.
The championship starts from Friday.
World-class javelin thrower Neeraj is not taking part in the September 27 to October 6 showpiece as he has just started light training since undergoing an elbow surgery in May.
Another bright prospect, Hima, trained in Europe for nearly four months, winning some low level races before pulling out due to a lower back injury after being named in the initial team.
It is difficult to predict who among the Indians will reach the final though the AFI is pinning its hopes in the three 4x400m relays, particularly the mixed 4x400m which is making a debut in the World Championships.
A medal though will be out of bounds and Anju Bobby George’s 2003 Worlds long jump bronze will remain the lone success. In the last edition in London in 2017, only one Indian made it to the finals (Davinder Singh Kang in men’s javelin) while the race walkers and marathoners produced disappointing performances.