Kashyap wilts in the second game against Chong Wei

London: Parupalli Kashyap of India produced a brave performance but was eventually outclassed by the speed and power of world No.2 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the quarterfinals of the Olympics. The Indian matched the Malaysian shot for shot in the first game, but once he lost that narrowly, his intensity seemed to drop off, and he fell 21-19 21-11.

“I badly wanted to win this one,” said Kashyap. “I just didn’t want to lose. I kept thinking about that and maybe that affected me. Once I trailed 3-11 in the second game, I just couldn’t come back.”

But for nearly the whole of the first game, Kashyap was on equal terms with the world’s second best player. He played percentage badminton, working the shuttle around and smashing when he got the opportunity. He had the lead throughout, moving from 6-3 to 9-4 to 14-12, and his attacking play seemed to unsettle Chong Wei.

The Malaysian however began to shift to another gear, putting in tremendous bursts of speed to kill the shuttle off the slightest lift. Until 19-all, it was anyone’s game, but then Chong Wei played two stunning slices that Kashyap dived for but couldn’t connect.

Kashyap seemed to wilt after the close loss of the second game. The Malaysian seemed to get better and better, and Kashyap seemed to have few answers to the bursts of speed or the delicate variations of Chong Wei.

“He had too many different strokes,” conceded Kashyap. “After I lost the first game it was always going to be difficult. It’s hard to explain. If I had won the first, the momentum would’ve carried me through.”

Chong Wei was gracious in victory, conceding that Kashyap had improved a lot since the last time he played.

“There was never a doubt in my mind that I would take the first game,” he said. “Kashyap was making me move around…. I’m playing better and better.”