NEW DELHI, Apr 27:
In a dramatic turn of events, Indian shuttler P Kashyap today edged past Ajay Jayaram to qualify for the London Olympics after Chen Jin of China gave him a walk over in the quarter-finals of the Indian Open Super Series because of a wrist injury, here today.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist P Kashyap came into the tournament with over 1000 points behind compatriot Jayaram and needed to win at least two rounds more than Jayaram to leapfrog him for the lone Olympic berth.
Jayaram had yesterday lost his second round to Lee Chong Wei.
The world number 30 Kashyap had defeated Boonsak Ponsana yesterday to set up a clash with world number four Chen.
Kashyap said he was happy with the walkover and was looking forward to the Olympics.
“I came prepared for the match but I am happy with the walkover. I came to know about it after the first game of the Jwala-Ashwini match. After the Commonwealth Games, I wanted to play at the Olympics. It was always a dream and I am happy,” he told reporters.
Chen, who won the Asian Badminton Championship last week, himself was trying to edge past Peter Gade and break into the top four in world ranking to get a chance to compete in the Olympics.
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