Kashyap, Guru reach quarterfinals at 20th Commonwealth Games

Glasgow: Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap, R M V Gurusaidutt and P C Thulasi entered the quarterfinals of badminton competition at the 20th Commonwealth Games here on Thursday.

Delhi Games bronze medallist, Kashyap took just 24 minutes to end the misery of his rival Jeff Tho of Australia 21-7 21-8, while Thulasi thrashed Rachel Honderich of Canada 21-12 21-7 in a 31-minute match. Gurusaidutt also notched up an easy 21-13 21-9 win over Andrew D`Souza of Canada in a men`s singles match that lasted 27 minutes at the Emirates Arena here. World No. 22 Kashyap will now take on Daren Liew, ranked 47th. A former top 10 player, Liew has beaten Kashyap twice in the past but the Indian had won the last time they met at Denmark Open in 2013 after the Malaysian retired midway. Guru will face World No. 18 and top seed Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia. The Indian has always played three games against him but lost 0-4 so far. Thulasi will be up against World No. 33 Jing Yi Tee, a player against whom she has lost twice in the past. After his victory today, Kashyap said: "I knew I could win. I just needed to get myself going and get into the rhythm. When you practice and when you`re on for a tournament, it`s different and you can`t slack off." Gurusaidutt said: "I just wanted to get this match over with. Andrew is a fighter. If I gave him the chance, he`d have come back." On facing No.1 seed Chong Wei Feng in the next round, Guru said: "I`ve always had close matches with him. This time I hope it`s in my favour." "He plays sharp strokes a lot so I`ve worked on getting the net strokes into my training. I just need to have confidence in myself now."