Fullerton: Two years ago, Parupalli Kashyap had signed off second best after being trumped by H S Prannoy in an enthralling all-Indian final at the US Open. Now, Kashyap will look to do one better in the tournament, starting with the qualifiers Tuesday.
He will be high on confidence after finishing runners-up at the Canada Open Sunday. Kashyap, a former Commonwealth Games champion, will once again be at the forefront as he leads the Indian challenge at the USD 150,000 BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament.
The 32-year-old Hyderabadi, a former top 10 player, has shown great fitness on his way to the final at Calgary, where he played four three-game matches.
The senior pro, seeded sixth, will take on the promising Lakshya Sen, a 2018 Asian Junior Champion, in the opening round. Prannoy, who had stayed back at Calgary to help Kashyap with on-court coaching and also acted as his physio, will look for a good outing after an early exit at the Canada Open.
The 26-year-old, who had won the tournament in 2017, has been seeded second and he will start against a tricky opponent in Japan’s Yu Igarashi.
National champion Sourabh Verma, too, will hope to hang around for the weekend when he begins against England’s Toby Penty, while Ajay Jayaram will meet fourth seeded Wang Tzu Wei of Chinese Taipei. Jayaram will look to take some tips from Kashyap, who had defeated Wang at Calgary.
In women’s singles, Anura Prabhudesai will take on a qualifier, while Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli faces Korean third seed Kim Ga Eun. The men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will square off against Korean combination of Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong.
