Both Kashyap and Anup were undone in straight games by left-handers and their own erratic form.
The Indian challenge at the All England Championships got off to a disappointing start as Anup Sridhar and P Kashyap crashed out in the first round of qualifying at the National Indoor Arena on Tuesday. The saving grace was the victory of national champion Trupti Murgunde who progressed to the second round.
Both Kashyap and Anup were undone in straight games by left-handers and their own erratic form. While Kashyap fell to Malaysian youngster Chong Wei Feng 21-16 21-8, Anup was particularly off-key against against Frenchman Mathieu Lo Ying Ping in a match he was expected to breeze through.
Trupti was untroubled for the most part by Finland’s Anu Nieminen, despite feeling the aftereffects of an extreme German winter last week. After a close first game, which she won 21-18, she eased through in the second. Trupti next plays Korea’s Bae Youn Joo in the second qualifying round for a place in the main draw.
Kashyap was unwilling to offer any excuses. “He (Feng) exploited my cross-court movement,” he said. “He didn’t do much, just kept the shuttle in play, and kept playing cross-court. I didn’t string enough good points together... I was okay from the back, but poor in the forecourt. Maybe we’ve been playing too much. The last 15 days there has been little training because of the Thomas Cup and German Open. It’s about preparation... but at this level, you have to be prepared.”
He couldn’t have offered a better description of what had gone wrong. Coming from a successful Thomas Cup campaign, the Indians should have been on a high, but Kashyap and Anup, who were playing on an adjacent court, struggled to impose themselves. Kashyap was good in patches, but every bit of good work was undone by a terrible lack of precision and control. There were far too many errors to threaten a player of Chong Wei Feng’s calibre.
Results: (Qualifying, Round 1): Chong Wei Feng (Mas) bt P Kashyap 21-16 21-8; Matthieu Lo Ying Ping (Fra) bt Anup Sridhar 21-8 21-14; Trupti Murgunde bt Anu Nieminen (Fin) 21-18 21-12.
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