Kashyap clinches CWG badminton gold

Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap etched his name in gold in the record books winning his first major championship by clinching the yellow metal at the Commonwealth Games here Sunday.

The second seed emerged victorious in the men's singles final against Singaporean sixth seed Zi Liang Derek Wong to turn the bronze he won four years ago in New Delhi into a gold. The 27-year-old won 21-14, 11-21, 21-19 in just over an hour at the Emirates Arena.

Kashyap has a 2-1 record over Wong in official Badminton World Federation (BWF) matches but the last time the duo met, the Indian ended on a losing note. This is India's third CWG men's singles gold after legendary Prakash Padukone won it in 1978 which was emulated four years later by Syed Modi.

India's fifth seed R.M.V. Gurusaidutt had won the bronze Saturday in a playoff by overcoming England's third seed Rajiv Ouseph.

World No.22 Kashyap took off well with a 5-2 lead which he comfortably extended to 11-7 at the first game break. Wong was no match for Kashyap whose speed and agility was too hot to handle and he raced away to seal the game in just 15 minutes.

However, the World No.40 upped the ante in the second game and immediately took a 6-2 lead which he extended to 11-6 by the mid-game break. Wong was so dominant in the second game that he won 10 of the next 15 points to level the match.

It was neck-and-neck in the decider but that did not stop both shuttlers from playing aggressively. It remained extremely close until Kashyap took the lead for the first time in the game (15-14) since leading 4-3 right at the start.

However, buoyed by a large Indian support base who were cheering for Kashyap with shouts of "India jeetega", the former World No.6 gained momentum and extended the lead to 19-16.

The Hyderbadi displayed some nervy moments when he lost three consecutive points to Wong to make it 19-all. But he stuck it out to win the next two points and clinch the gold.