PK beats long odds, Long in otherworldy performance
Unlike Lin Dan who towered over the shuttling world with the halo of five World Championships and two Olympic gold medals adding to his lean 5’10” frame, the current Chinese World No 1 Chen Long looms over the court with his 6′ 2″ beastly presence. His strides can eat up the court faster than most other shuttlers and the 26-year-old who has accumulated 20 titles on the pro circuit in the last five years can appear intimidating by just hovering at the net.
From across the net, the effect is of a mammoth armoured tank which can whizz around like a moped. This April, Parupalli Kashyap had felt the full blast of this smiling wrecking ball in Malaysia: He was wiped out 21-10, 21-6 in 35 minutes.
The Indian, at 5 ft 8, is a whole half-a-foot shorter than Chen Long that magnifies the feeling of being overawed and standing no chance when pitted against him.
Ranked 12 currently, he’s faced some of his most bruising losses against the Chinese world champion. The seven defeats till date almost erasing memories of the one freak win three years ago. It’d have been “stupid”, Kashyap reckoned on Friday, to fall back on that tiny glimmer of positivity when heading into yet another quarterfinal clash against Chen Long, who had moved on to being a World No 1 from a mere top-tenner in 2012 when that victory was won. “Both our games have changed since the time I was ranked in mid-20s and he was No 6 or 7,” he explained, before adding, ominously, “We’re both better players than back then, now.”
Thus the quarter-final of the Premier Super Series on Friday was between two players three years older and wiser with improved games plus refined temperaments. Kashyap’s 14-21, 21-17, 21-14 come-from-behind win drew very little from his past (he’s never played a three-setter against Long earlier), but will have a massive bearing on the future as he heads into Olympic qualification season. No Indian men’s singles shuttler has beaten a World No 1 in the current 21 rally-point system. The last time was close to 15 years ago and both Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan went undefeated by an Indian during their reigns at the top.
Chen is neither Super Dan nor a sprightly Lee, both of whom were considered unbeatable by the chasing pack. Chen Long’s not yet invincible and with his disarming smile doesn’t carry an air of ruthlessness. But he is clearly one step ahead of the rest of the field currently, and moreover known for his robotic consistency that doesn’t allow rivals to break through his defenses.
“The win against Chen Long is big because he is better than all others by some distance currently. Also it came in the quarterfinal stage, a crucial point in the meet. Two good back-to-back wins are brilliant for Kashyap,” former women’s international Aparna Popat says.
Kashyap started tentative, strewing errors in the middle of some fine smashes and went a set down. He had been hitting them well. “I’ve been working very hard on hitting them with force and power. But that training over the last one year needed to show in a match-situation,” he said later. He was still restricted and fidgety going into the second set. However, as he liberated his game by playing his natural attacking smashes, the points began to pile up.
At 16-13 with a promising lead, he would play one of the longest rallies of the match and end it with a kill shot that made him back his game. “The last loss had played on my mind big-time. I was annihilated so I kept wondering how I’d react. Facing him on court is something else and he was striding around confidently. But when I got my smash winners I knew I was playing well,” he said.
At that point when he got Chen to blink first, Kashyap whiffed an upset win.
He would move faster in the decider, strike a rhythm, up the pace of the game, and use the drift — courts playing on the faster side — to his advantage against the predominantly defensive player. In the decider he would go back to the side from where he had lost the opener, and undo the prime mistake.
“I didn’t commit errors at the net. I kept the shuttle in court and kept attacking,” he explained.
Against the likes of Lin Dan, attacking blokes who try many things on court and fancy strokes, opponents can fancy their chances. “But Long doesn’t make errors. You can’t just jump smash from the lines. You need to play rallies and need strokes to pick every point. I could put pressure on him today,” Kashyap said.
It’s been a trying time for Kashyap who lost to Korean Son Wan Ho at the Sudirman Cup and nursed the regret like his many past near-misses. “Coming back from reverses at Australia and Sudirman and responding like that is great,” coach Gopichand said.
“He’s been up and down with his results. He won CWG gold then lost in first round. But he hangs in there. It’s difficult to break Chen Long and he never loses on own errors. If you falter, he pounces. Today Kashyap did well to stick by his big smash and keep chipping away at Chen Long.”
In Olympic qualification year and with three Indians hovering around the Top 10 mark, Kashyap’s striding into semifinals of a Premier Super Series (and collecting sackful of ranking points) was a giant step for Indian badminton’s little man.
Up next… Momota
P Kashyap’s opponent in the semifinals is Japanese Kento Momota. Ranked No 9 in the world, the dangerous Japanese is younger at 20, fitter and deceptively tricky. A Super Series winner at Singapore this year, Momota is best known for his exploits at last year’s team event of Thomas Cup where he helped Japan pip China and Malaysia for the title. The left-handed Momota (he leads Kashyap 0-1 in head to head) brings unorthodox angles and guile to the court.
Saina crashes out
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal bowed out with a quarterfinal loss to familiar foe Wang Shixian of China on Friday. Saina, who has won this tournament thrice in her career, went down 21-16 12-21 18-21 to Wang in a 69-minute battle. This was the 13th face-off between the two and Wang has a 7-6 overall lead now.
