2013 Malaysia Open: Parupalli Kashyap stamps Takuma Ueda en route to pre quarter-finals
India’s ace shuttler Parupalli Kashyap played flawless badminton in the opening round of Maybank Malaysia Open and marched into pre quarter-finals on Wednesday, January 16, 2013.
He locked horns with a young Japanese player Takuma Ueda and their meeting prolonged to 55 minutes in local badminton arena of Kuala Lumpur.
World Number 11 Kashyap employed all of his experience and brilliance in the game and emerged as victor with an impressive result of 21-14, 16-21 and 21-5.
Though, he lost focus in middle of the battle but his power play in the opening and ending segments led him to a splendid victory.
On the other hand, Takuma Ueda could not match his higher ranked rival’s skills and crashed out of this prestigious event.
The first set of match was full of sensation as both contenders remained equal in the beginning but the Indian campaigner struck hard and tipped the scale in his favour.
Kashyap played cautiously in the establishing rallies and this passive approach resulted in tight margin before the interval.
However, he gathered some pace and left his challenger far behind immediately after the mid-game break.
The Japanese player could not withstand this strong backlash and surrendered after reading 14-21 score on the board.
Next game changed the scenario as this time Takuma Ueda did not repeat previous mistakes and established an early lead.
He played aggressive badminton in the beginning and pushed his competitor on the back foot. This psychological edge helped him in next couple of rallies and he managed to pile up a significant total of 11.
After the one-minute break, Kashyap showed some spark and narrowed the gap on points table but then few back-to-back mistakes resulted in his 16-21 defeat.
The decider was expected to be a cliff-hanging set as both shuttlers were standing equal with one win each.
Unexpectedly, the third set was a dead contest as Kashyap ruled the court from very first stroke to the last one.
The Indian player maintained a convincing lead throughout the game and gained access to the pre quarter-final road after putting 21-5 margin on the board.
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