Parupalli Kashyap ousts Niluka Karunaratne in the round-of-16 at Swedish International Stockholm
India’s upcoming star, Parupalli Kashyap, has powered his way into Men’s Singles quarter-final after defeating Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne in the round-of-16 at Swedish International Stockholm 2012, in Sweden, on Friday, January 20.
Kashyap, who has been struggling hard to find a good flow for the last three months, had to work extra hard against Niluka in the pre-quarter-final contest of the tournament.
The Indian took 57 minutes to overwhelm his rival in a thrilling fight of three games, which entertained the local crowd to the maximum.
Both shuttlers started the opening set in an attacking was and remained equal until 9-9 when Niluka started to control the game and reached at 11-9 until the break. He remained on track without losing his focus and maintained pressure on his Indian challenger.
After the break, Niluka continued his killing run in the game and did not commit any mistake. Kashyap could not match the perfection of his lower ranked opponent and lost the first game with a huge difference of 12-21.
In the following game, Kashyap lifted up his standard and played positive badminton by taking the bird early. He remained in complete control and matched the speed and accuracy of his rival. However, no one could dominate the game until the interval.
After the break, both remained on track and continued their flawless play until 12-12. At this stage, Kashyap took control of the pace and manage to take a good lead of 18-14. However, he failed to maintain the lead as his opponent scored four consecutive
points to level the score at 18-18.
At this stage, Kashyap played stunning badminton at net and manage to earn ending points to take the set with a close difference of 21-19.
In the deciding set, the clash remained close until 8-8 when the Indian occupied the driving seat and reach at 11-8 until the break.
Kashyap did not drop the pace of rallies and manage to win the final game in a tremendous fashion by a 21-12 score on the board. The final result of this entertaining rubber-set contest was 12-21, 21-19 and 21-12.
In the quarter-final showdown, Kashyap will take on Netherland’s Eric Pang, who defeated Mathias Wigardt of Sweden in the other round-of-16 contest.
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