New Delhi: Parupalli Kashyap scored an emphatic 21-15, 21-18 victory over Chetan Anand to win the bronze medal in an all-Indian contest at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
Chetan, who was the bronze medal winner at Melbourne four years ago, has not been in good form and was replaced by the younger Kashyap for the later stages of the mixed team event where India won the silver.
Though Chetan, seeded third, was the more experienced player, but sixth seeded Kashyap, who upset Malaysian Mohammad Hafiz Hashim in the quarterfinals and lost the semifinals closely to second seed Rajiv Ouseph, was the favourite to win the bronze.
After winning the first game without much resistance coming his way, Kashyap was given a tough fight by Chetan in the second game. Kashyap broke away after both players were tied 4-4 in the first game. He opened up a 12-8 lead and consolidated it with some fine net play.
Chetan, who looked rusty in the first game, fought back in the second and led from the start in the second game. Chetan led 11-5 before Kashyap tightened his game and crawled back. He narrowed down the gap at 13-11 and from there on, it was an intense battle with the crowd cheering every point.
Kashyap finally nosed ahead at 17-16 putting Chetan under pressure. Kashyap then made no mistake in closing out the match. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he finished off the last point and acknowledged the support of the crowd.
"This medal means a lot to me. I lost some close matches this season. I could have won some tournaments and yesterday I lost a close match to Rajiv Ouseph. It was horrible. It played on my mind throughout the night and I thought whether I would be able to win big matches," said Kashyap immediately after winning the bronze, while trying to control his emotions.
"I am happy to win this one today. I played well under pressure in the tournament, be it in the mixed team event or the individual event. I think I am a better player after winning the bronze."
"I would like to dedicate this victory to my coaches."
About the match, Kashyap said that Chetan came back brilliantly. "He was controlling the shuttle very well. The way he was playing today he could have beaten anyone in this tournament. I just backed myslelf in the second game when I was down."
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