Gold caps arduous journey for Kashyap
PARUPALLI KASHYAP, on the final
NEW DELHI: It has been a long and tough journey, but at the end of it Parupalli Kashyap’s joy knew no bounds. Plagued by injuries and drop in rankings, Glasgow proved to be the golden lining for the shuttler as he notched up gold in the men’s singles event for India after 32 years.
There was a bronze in Delhi four years ago but that came when he was injury free, hungry for more ranking points. He was even world No 6 sometime back. Then came the shoulder injury last December just before the nationals. “My shoulder is strapped so tight I can barely move it,” he had said, pain writ large on the face.
After weeks of rehab, Kashyap was getting his act together when a freak shot during the German Open in February led to a dislocation once again. He needed wins to boost his confidence. Good showings at the Swiss Open and India Open helped. “The focus this year is the Commonwealth and Asian,” the 27-year-old had said.
After pocketing the first game 21-14 against Singapore’s Derek Wong on Sunday, Kashyap’s game plan went awry in the second. Too many unforced errors cost him dear. The Singaporean didn’t let go and levelled scores with a 21-11 win.
It all boiled down to the wire. No one was willing to give an inch. However, a good winner set up a match point at 20-19 for the current world No 22. The highest Indian in the current rankings chart did not let it go waste. He hit straight at Wong during a brief rally and that was it — a gold medal and Kashyap’s first major victory.
“I needed this win. This was a dream,” said the shuttler, who stood on the podium singing the national anthem.
I WAS BECOMING TOO TENSE. IN MY MIND I BELIEVED I COULD WIN EASILY BECAUSE I DIDN’T THINK HE COULD PLAY SUCH A GOOD GAME SO I WASN’T READY BECAUSE IN MY MIND I HAD ALREADY WON
The strapping on his shoulder is still there, evident as he celebrated the gold Sourav Ganguly-style on court but it was all the months of hard work off it which has finally paid off. JWALA, ASHWINI BAG SILVER Winning a doubles gold in Delhi was a dream for Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa. However, four years later, the duo failed to replicate that winning moment. The Indians went down, but fighting, to Malaysians Khe Wei Woon and Vivian Kah Mun Hoo 17-21, 21-23. They failed to win the points when it mattered against the world No 18 pair.
However, Jwala apologised for not winning through her Twitter handle. “Thank u guys.. thank u for all the support.. sorry, couldn’t do better.. thank u @P9Ashwini love playing with u.. we will get better from here on,” the doubles star tweeted. BRONZE MEDALS Late on Saturday, PV Sindhu gave India their first badminton medal in this edition of the Glasgow Games. The teenager defeated Malaysia’s Jing Yi Tee 23-21, 21-9 in the bronze medal play off. RMV Gurusaidutt, too, wasn’t far behind as he overcame England’s Rajiv Ouseph 21-15, 14-21, 21-19 to give the country its second badminton bronze medal.