Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap today beat giant-killer Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka 21-15 14-21 21-9 in the last 16 stage to reach the men's singles quarterfinal of the London Olympics.
Kashyap, ranked 21st in the world, had stunned world number 11 Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam in pre-quarterfinals on Monday 21-9 21-14 in the second and final Group D match of the men's singles event to reach the knockout stage. He had beaten Belgium's Tan Yuhan in an earlier game.
Karunaratne, too, had produced a gritty performance to surprise eighth seed Kenichi Tago of Japan 21-18 21-16 to top group C.
Kashyap is the only Indian male shuttler to reach the quarterfinals stage at the Olympics, surpassing his mentor and coach Pullela Gopichand.
The Sri Lankan flagbearer at the opening ceremony, Karunaratne is ranked 48th in the world and has been an unheralded player even though he had won four tournaments at international challenge level.
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, who has also advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after her comfortable victory over Belgium's Lianne Tan on Monday, is likely to clash with 14th seeded Jie Yao of The Netherlands in the last 16.
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