Parupalli Kashyap likely to miss India Open

Hyderabad: Star shuttler Parupalli Kashyap — who’s been out of action for a while due to a knee injury — said on Tuesday he will, in all likelihood, miss the India Open Superseries, to be played from March 29 to April 3 in New Delhi.
“I’ve just about recovered from my knee injury, so I’m unlikely to play in Delhi,” Kashyap said.

Kashyap had made a tentative comeback at the German Open last month, but pulled out early in the event after twisting his knee. He has since missed the All England as well. “I’m hopeful of playing at the Malaysia Open Superseries, however,” the 29-year-old added.

Kashyap, who hadn’t played competitively since October last, said this long lay-off has “very badly” hit his chances of qualifying for the Rio Olympic Games to be held in August this year. “I’ve been injured since October, and I haven’t played in too many events. I have lost a lot of points. So it looks tough, qualifying for the Olympics,” Kashyap said.

At the moment, Kashyap is ranked 17th in the world, and has   1,653 fewer points than the 16th-ranked Ka Long Angus Ng of Hong Kong. With May 1 as the cut-off date for Olympic qualification, Kashyap will be in a race against time to make the cut. Apart from Malaysia Open (April 5 to 10), the Singapore Open Superseries (April 12 to 17) and the China Masters Grand Prix (April 19 to 24) will give him a chance to make it to Rio.

Each country has two spots each available in men’s and women’s singles, provided both are ranked in the top 16 in the world. Otherwise, each country can enter one player till the roster of 38 spots is filled. “I don’t want to rush into anything just for the sake of qualifying,” Kashyap said, adding: “I risk sustaining a more serious injury if I do that.”