Parupalli Kashyap, K Srikanth lose in All England championship

Birmingham: Top Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and K Srikanth failed to cross the first hurdle as India started their campaign at the All England championship on a disastrous note here today.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Kashyap played his heart out before enduring a 21-14 19-21 17-21 defeat against fifth seed Kenichi Tago of Japan in a men`s singles match that lasted an hour and 15 minutes. Thailand Open GP Gold winner Srikanth too could not cross the first hurdle and went down to Japan`s Kento Momota 11-21 15-21 in another men`s singles match. India`s mixed doubles pair of Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa also fell in the opening round, losing to fourth seed Danish combo of Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen 13-21 16-21 in just over half an hour. Among other Indians, men`s singles player Anand Pawar and women`s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also fell at the first step in the qualifiers. Seeded No. 1 in the qualifiers, Anand squandered a one-game advantage to go down fighting against Indonesia`s Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 21-18 13-21 19-21 in an hour and eight minutes match. Commonwealth Games Gold medallist pair of Jwala and Ashwini also failed to tame the Chinese combo of Jin Ma and Yuanting Tang as they went down 21-14 15-21 17-21 in a match that lasted 54 minutes.