India's Parupalli Kashyap defeated compatriot Chetan Anand to win a bronze in the badminton singles event of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Sixth seed Kashyap, who was playing in his first Commonwealth Games, survived a scare in the second game to scrape past third seed Chetan 21-15, 21-18 in the third place-play off at the Siri Fort sport complex.
In the first game, Kashyap led 11-7 as Chetan suffered a series of unforced errors to allow Kashyap swell his lead before pocketing it comfortably.
In the second game, Chetan came back strongly and was leading 11-6 but soon he started faltering at the nets and mistakes of the first game against started to haunt him as Kashyap clawed back at 16-16 and then moved ahead 18-16.
A net dribble and a half smash took Kashyap to 20-18 and it was all over for Chetan after he hit the net as the 24-year-old burst into tears of joy amid the boisterous crowd who backed him all along.
"I am very happy to win this medal. I dedicate my win to my coach Bhaskar Babu and Gopichand and also to all the staff and supporters who have helped me in my career," Kashyap said.
Kashyap said his semi-final loss to Rajiv Ouseph played on his mind and troubled him a lot but he was happy he could exorcise those thoughts and win on Wednesday.
"I have lost so many tournaments from winning positions. It happened in the Vietnam Open, Singapore Open and also in the Asian Championship in 2009 when I lost to Bao Chunlai after leading. It is a horrible feeling. So the thought of losing the semi-final on Tuesday kept troubling me last night," he said.
"Even today I was thinking about it but I told myself I won't commit the same mistakes. So I kept pushing the shuttle behind and it worked. If I would have done even half of what I did today, I could have won yesterday," he added.
Asked about his next assignment, Kashyap said, "I will be leaving for Danish Open on October 24. My next aim is to win a medal at the Asian Games."
Melbourne bronze medallist Chetan said, "I am disappointed with my defeat but I am happy at least an Indian won a bronze. I will have to regroup myself and get my confidence back. I will play the Dutch Open next which I won last year. I hope I can win it and gain some confidence."
Earlier, Liz Cann battled past Melbourne bronze medallist Susan Egelstaff 21-18, 21-16 in a 36-minute clash to win the bronze medal for England.
In the men's doubles, Singapore pair of Saputra Hendri Kurniawan and Hendra Wijaya struggled past compatriots Chayut Triyachart and Wong Zi Liang Derek 23-21, 21-12.
While comeback queens Tane He Tian and Kate Wilson-Smith won a marathon battle against Jenny Wallwork and Gabby White of England 21-23, 21-12, 21-16 in the women doubles to win the bronze for Australia, ending a 12-year drought.
"The first set was really close. Then in the second set we changed our game plan. We tried to focus and maintain the game rhythm, have a really good rally," Kate said.
"The first medal we [Australia] won was in 1998. This medal will be a real inspiration for the young players. It is a huge success for our country.
"We really wanted this medal so that the young talent in our country can train themselves harder, and I believe they can do it," she added.
In the mixed doubles, Chayut Triyachart and Yao Lei won the second bronze for Singapore after beating Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying (Mas) 21-14, 17-21, 21 in 51-minute match.
