Sydney: It will be a sort of baptism by fire for Commonwealth Games champion shuttler Parupalli Kashyap at the Australian Super Series badminton tournament here. Kashyap who qualified for the main draw Tuesday with two wins on the trot in his qualifying rounds will face World No. 1 Korean Son Wan Ho in the first round.
Kashyap, who is trying to make a comeback after losing a lot of time due to a series of injuries, saw off China’s Zhao Junpeng 21-15, 21-18 in the opening round before disposing Indonesia Super Series Premier runners-up Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai 21-5, 21-16 in the second men’s singles match. The victory in the second game will certainly inspire him for the match against Son, who was beaten by Kidambi Srikanth recently at the Indonesian Open.
Meanwhile, HS Prannoy, who defeated Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei and Rio gold medallist Chen Long in Indonesia Open last week, got a direct entry into the main draw and he will take on England’s Rajiv Ouseph.
Young Siril Verma also made it to the main draw after brushing aside Indonesia’s Yehezkiel Fritz Mainaky 21-9, 21-9 and then defeating compatriot Shreyansh Jaiswal 21-16, 21-15.
In women’s singles qualifying round, Ruthvika Shivani Gadde beat Australia’s Sylvina Kurniawan 21-15, 21-15 and then dumped another local player Ruwindi Serasinghe 21-9, 21-7 to make it to the main contest. Shivani will face China’s Chen Xiaoxin in her main draw match, Wednesday.
