CWG 2014 Badminton: PV Sindhu, Kashyap reach quarters

Glasgow: Indian shuttlers had a good day in office as P V Sindhu, Parupalli Kashyap, R M V Gurusaidutt and P C Thulasi all qualified for the quarterfinals in their respective events at the 20th Commonwealth Games. India’s top draw in women’s singles event, Sindhu made light work of her Sri Lankan opponent Thilini Hendahewa 21-14 21-14 in just 26 minutes to book her place in the last eight round. After his victory today, Kashyap said: “I knew I could win. I just needed to get myself going and get into the rhythm. When you practice and when you’re on for a tournament, it’s different and you can’t slack off.” Gurusaidutt said: “I just wanted to get this match over with. Andrew is a fighter. If I gave him the chance, he’d have come back.” On facing No.1 seed Chong Wei Feng in the next round, Guru said: “I’ve always had close matches with him. This time I hope it’s in my favour. He plays sharp strokes a lot so I’ve worked on getting the net strokes into my training. I just need to have confidence in myself now.” [caption id=“attachment_1636831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PV Sindhu in this file photo. PTI[/caption] Delhi Games bronze medallist, Kashyap took just 24 minutes to end the misery of his rival Jeff Tho of Australia 21-7 21-8, while Thulasi thrashed Rachel Honderich of Canada 21-12 21-7 in a 31-minute match. Gurusaidutt also notched up an easy 21-13 21-9 win over Andrew D’Souza of Canada in a men’s singles match that lasted 27 minutes at the Emirates Arena. Sindhu will face Anna Rankin of New Zealand in the quarterfinals tomorrow. World No. 22 Kashyap will now take on Daren Liew, ranked 47th. A former top 10 player, Liew has beaten Kashyap twice in the past but the Indian had won the last time they met at Denmark Open in 2013 after the Malaysian retired midway. Guru will face World No 18 and top seed Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia. The Indian has always played three games against him but lost 0-4 so far. Thulasi will be up against World No. 33 Jing Yi Tee, a player against whom she has lost twice in the past. Among other Indian shuttlers, Kidambi Srikanth also entered the quarterfinals of the men’s singles event after registering a hard-fought 20-22 21-16 21-12 win over Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne. Srikanth will face Derek Wong in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Reigning women’s doubles gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also made it to the quarterfinals after beating Australian combination of He Tian Tang and Renuga Veeran 18-21 21-10 21-6 in a keenly-contested 41-minute duel. However, it was curtains for men’s doubles pair of Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar as they went down tamely 13-21 14-21 to Malaysian duo of Wee Kioong Tan and Wei Shem Goh. PTI