India's Parupalli Kashyap blew away a game lead to crash out of in the first round of the World Badminton Championships here. The promising Indian shuttler lost 21-14 14-21 16-21 to Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk in his tournament opener on Monday night that lasted 56 minutes.
Kashyap was almost flawless in the first game as he pinned the Thai to the back court and with some delectable drop shots won important points.
After winning the first game 21-14, Kashyap seemed well on course of advancing to the second round. But Saensomboonsuk had other pans as he came back strongly to shatter the hopes of the Indian.
Saensomboonsuk forced Kashyap on the back hand in the second game to race to a 8-3 lead and finally win the game 21-14 to tie the scores at 1-1.
In the decider, Kashyap's defensive errors continued as the Thai took a 19-15 lead. In the end, despite Kashyap prolonging the rallies, Saensomboonsuk won the third game 21-16 to cruise into the second round.
"I think I was too defensive," said a crestfallen Kashyap. "But it's an important learning experience for me. I have no doubt that I was the better player with the better shots but he forced me to play to his style and I just couldn't adapt," he said.
Kashyap also felt that he would need to play more openly. "I need to relax in a game. I am too stressed out when the match is not going my way. I hope this goes a long way in teaching me to play to my strength," the Indian said.
Saensomboonsuk will next face 12th seed Kenichi Tago of Japan. The other Indian in fray 14th seed Chetan Anand will open his campaign against Singapore's Ong Zhao Ashton Chen.