CALGARY: Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap crashed out in the men’s singles qualifying round of the Canada Open 2023 BWF Super 500 event in Calgary.
Former world No.6 Kashyap has not won a BWF tournament since 2018 and has a current ranking of 189th, according to Olympics.com.
Kashyap won his opening round on Tuesday against German world No. 67 Kai Schaefer. Despite dominating the first game, Kashyap needed to preserve two game points to win 21-14, 22-20.
In the second qualifying match, Kashyap put up a strong fight against world No. 65 Lae Lan Xi but lost the match 21-17, 22-20.
On the other hand, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala, India’s only challenge in men’s doubles progressed to the second round of the main draw.
The Indian badminton players, ranked 38th in doubles, beat the world No. 63 pair of Lu Chen and Chen Zhi Ray of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-16 in the first round.
However, Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala could potentially run into three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in the second round.
In women’s doubles, Rutaparna Panda and Swetaparna Panda, world No. 95, went down against the unranked Canadian pair of Jacqueline Cheung and Jeslyn Chow in three games – 21-15, 15-21, 9-21.
India’s top badminton players, including two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Commonwealth Games 2022 champion Lakshya Sen, will take the court on Wednesday. (ANI)