New Delhi: In a dramatic turn of events, Indian shuttler P Kashyap on Friday edged past Ajay Jayaram to qualify for the London Olympics after Chen Jin of China gave him a walkover in the quarter-final of the Indian Open Super Series because of a wrist injury.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P Kashyap came into the tournament with over 1000 points behind compatriot Jayaram and needed to win at least two rounds more than Jayaram to leapfrog him for the lone Olympic berth. Jayaram had on Thursday lost his second round to Lee Chong Wei.
The world number 30 Kashyap had defeated Boonsak Ponsana on Thursday to set up a clash with the world number four Chen. Kashyap said he was happy with the walkover and was looking forward to the Olympics.
"I came prepared for the match but I am happy with the walkover. I came to know about it after the first game of the Jwala-Ashwini match. After the Commonwealth Games, I wanted to play at the Olympics. It was always a dream and I am happy," he told reporters.
Chen, who won the Asian Badminton Championship last week, himself was trying to edge past Peter Gade and break into the top four in the world rankings to get a chance to compete in the Olympics. Interestingly, last year’s runners-up Peter Gade lost on Friday in the quarter-final, paving the way for Chen to qualify for the Olympics.
Among other Indians, rising player PV Sindhu showed indomitable spirit before going down fighting 18-21, 21-12, 21-18 to world number seven Yanjiao Jiang of China in the women's singles quarter-final.
Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also fought hard before going down to third seeded Japanese pair of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna 21-19, 13-21, 14-21.
Men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas also went down in the quarter-final to the Thai pair of Bodin Issara and Maneepong Jongjit 12-21, 12-21.
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