New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap is on the road to London and what a way to seal the Olympic spot. On a day when it was required for him to play his guts out to achieve what was looking a very hard task, got a walkover after Chen Jin of China did not take the court due to a wrist injury.

His qualification now means that he has edged past Ajay Jayaram in the race to Olympic. Kashyap, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist came into the tournament with 1000 points behind Jayaram required to win at least two rounds more than him to clinch the lone spot at the London Games.

He played well in the tournament and also had luck supporting him; a perfect combination to achieve something of that significance.

Kashyap looking obviously happy after the feat and said that he now has Olympic on his mind."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," said Kashyap after the match.

Apart from Kashyap, none of the Indians could fare well. PV Sindhu showed great fighting skills, but lost 18-21, 21-12, 21-18 to world number seven Yanjiao Jiang of China in the women's singles quarterfinal.

Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to third seeded Japanese pair of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna 21-19, 13-21, 14-21,while men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas lost in the quarterfinals to Thai pair of Bodin Issara and Maneepong Jongjit 12-21, 12-21.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury

Indian Sports News