Taipei Open 2022: World Number 3, Parupalli Kashyap advances to the next round after a comprehensive victory over Chia Hao Lee of Chinese Taipei. The Indian ace shuttler won 21-10, 21-19 as he marches on to quarter-finals of the Men’s Singles event.
Kashyap is yet to drop a set in this year’s edition of the Taipei Open as his impeccable form is unleashing wrath with consistency and endurance. Kashyap will be up against Soong Joo Ven of Malaysia in the quarter-finals to be played on Friday, July 22.
Kashyap’s win was the only silver lining in a dark cloud of today’s day for Indian contingents in Men’s Singles event as the rest others crashed out of the tournament.
Kiran George was in a ‘David Vs Goliath’ matchup as he took on World Number 1, Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei. With the initial looks of the matchup, very few would’ve thought of a three-set thriller but it became a reality as Kiran’s spirited performance gave Chou glimpses of his surprise exit to HS Prannoy for a while, and the improbable started becoming a reality when Kiran took the second set 21-16 to make it 1-1.
But the dream run was short-lived as Chou dominated the proceedings of the third set to win the set 21-7, and match 2-1, to progress to the quarter-finals, to be played on Friday, July 22.
He will now face compatriot Chen Chi Ting, who knocked out Kiran’s compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in straight sets 21-19, 21-13. It was a topsy-turvy match as Chen initially took a huge lead during the first set, only to be dramatically reduced by Priyanshu, but the efforts of the Indian didn’t prevail for long as Chen prevailed.
The matchup of the day was Mithun Manjunath vs World Number 4 Kodai Naraoka and the match went for three sets, but Kodai got better off Mithun to progress to the quarter-finals. Mithun won the first set 24-22, but what came later was something hardly anyone anticipated, as in a dramatic turnaround, Mithun lost multiple points in a row to drop the second set 5-21and a good fightback wasn’t sufficient enough as Mithun lost the third set 17-21 to lose the match 24-22, 5-21, 17-21 to the Japanese.
In Men’s Doubles, the highly-rated pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila were stunned by the Chinese Taipei pair of Su Ching Heng and Ye Hong Wei 17-21, 15-21 as they were among the favourites to go all the way this year.
Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek too bowed out to World Number 1, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin 19-21, 23-21, 9-21 in Round 2 as Indian contingents are officially out of the Men’s Doubles event, alongside Women’s Singles event in this year’s Taipei Open.
Tanisha Crasto and Shruti Mishra continued their good run as they saw off Jia Yin Lin and Lin Yu-Hao of Chinese Taipei comprehensively. The Indian pair won 21-14, 21-8 in Round 2 of the Women’s Doubles event and are the only Indian pair alive in this event.
Ishaan Bhatnagar made up for his loss in Men’s Doubles event as he and Tanisha Crasto won against Cheng Kai Wen and Wang Yu Qiao of Chinese Taipei 21-14, 21-17 in the Round 2 of the Mixed Doubles event. They will now face the Malaysian pair of Hoo Pang Ron and Toh Eh Wei in the quarter s finals to be played on Friday, July 22.