In a dramatic turn of events, Indian shuttler P Kashyap edged past Ajay Jayaram to qualify for the London Olympics after Chen Jin of China gave him a walkover in the quarter-finals of the Indian Open Super Series because of a wrist injury, in New Delhi on Friday.
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 on Thursday lost his second round to Lee Chong Wei.
The World number 30 Kashyap had defeated Boonsak Ponsana to set up a clash with World No. 4 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 said.
Last year's runnersup Peter Gade lost in the quarter-final, paving the way for Chen to qualify for the Olympics.
Among other Indians, rising shuttler P V Sindhu showed indomitable spirit before going down fighting 18-21, 21-12, 21-18 to World No. 7 Yanjiao Jiang of China in the women's singles quarterfinal.
Commonwealth Games gold medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also fought hard before going down to third seeded Japanese pair of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna 21-19, 13-21, 14-21.
Men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas also went down in the quarterfinals to Thai pair of Bodin Issara and Maneepong Jongjit 12-21, 12-21.
Among others, Wan Ho Shon stunned second seed Peter Hoeg Gade of Denmark 24-22, 21-18, while top seed Chong Wei Lee defeated former World and olympic champion Taufik Hidayat 21-16, 21-13 to reach the semi-finals of the men's singles.
Sixth seed Juliane Schenk of Germany also produced a scintillating performance and ousted top seed Shixian Wang of China 6-21, 21-10, 21-16, while Chinese qualifier Xiao Jia Chen beat Youn Joo Bae 21-17, 21-13 and Asian badminton Champion Li Xuerui of China defeated Singapore's Juan Gu 21-15, 21-11 to enter the semis.
