Kashyap begins campaign against Taufik in Japan Open

New Delhi: India`s top shuttler Parupalli Kashyap will open his campaign against former world and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat in the Japan Super Series which gets underway with the qualifiers at Tokyo from Tuesday.

The London Olympics quarterfinalist, Kashyap had lost to compatriot RMV Gurusaidutt in the second round of the China Masters last week. The Commonwealth bronze medallist Indian has never won against the current world number 12 from Indonesia but the last time they faced off was during the India Open in April last year at the Siri Fort Complex here. Gaint killer P V Sindhu, who created a flutter with a stunning win over Olympic champion Li Xuerui in China Masters, will face local player Kaori Imabeppu in her opening match. Among other Indians, Anand Pawar will be up against world number one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, while Ajay Jayaram will clash with a qualifier in the men`s main draw which starts from Wednesday. Guru, who reached the quarterfinals in China Masters, will lock horns with fourth seed Sho Sasaki of Japan. In men`s doubles, Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar will face off eighth seed Thien How Hoon and Wee Kiong Tan of Malaysia. Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu will meet fifth seed Naoki Kawamae and Shoji Sato of Japan. In mixed doubles, Tarun and Ashwini Ponnappa will take on Japanese pair of Noriyasu Hirata and Miyuki Maeda. PTI