Indian shuttlers are eyeing gold in the final day of the Commonwealth Games, with Parupalli Kashyap in the singles and Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa in the women's doubles on Sunday.
Kashyap prevailed over England's Rajiv Ouseph 18-21, 21-17, 21-18 in a thriller to book his gold medal match with Derek Wong, who defeated RMV Gurusaidutt in the semifinals to become the first men's singles player from Singapore to win a Commonwealth Games medal.
An epic semifinal between Kashyap and Ouseph swung one way to the other but the Indian managed to hold his nerves, when mattered and clinched the encounter in one hour and 23 minutes. The Indian got off to a sizzling start and won the first point on a rally that lasted for 72 seconds and featured 71 strokes.
Although Ouseph tried to recover in the later stages, after Kashyap built a solid lead over him but the Indian held on to win the match. The rallies started to get longer in the second game and the Englishman came on top to level the match.
The final game brought the crowd on their feet at the Emirates Arena, as both players exchanged intense rallies and firing smashes. After taking a 12-9 lead in the third game, Kashyap showed that he can mix delicate touches with brute power to win the contest.
Kashyap was left fuming over the match point drama that delayed his celebrations. At 20-15 the shuttle dropped on the line and the Indian thought he had the match but the umpire called it in favour of Rajiv. Kashyap, however, managed to clinch the final game 20-18.
"Some of the line calls in the match were simply ridiculous," a furious Kashyap said. "One (towards the end of the third game) was in and the replays clearly showed that. But the line umpire said it was out. It was ridiculous. I don't know why they wanted England to win."
Meanwhile, Jwala and Ashwini will be facing Malaysian pair Vivian Kah Mun Hoo and Khe Wei Woon in the final. The defending champions will be aiming for gold, after convincingly winning their semifinal match against Lai Pei Jing and Loo Yin Lim 21-7, 21-12.
In the men's hockey, India will lock horns with Australia in the re-match of Delhi Commonwealth Games, after beating New Zealand in the semifinals. The Kookaburras have already defeated India in the group stages and in the Delhi Games they thrashed the Indian team 8-0.
Schedule of Play
Badminton: Finals
Men Singles: Parupalli Kashyap vs Derek Wong starts 4:30 pm
Women's Doubles Final: India vs Malaysia starts 5:30 pm
Hockey: Final
Men: India vs Australia starts 4:45 pm
Where to Watch Live
The 11th day action is scheduled for a 9:00 am local time (1:30 pm IST) start with live coverage in India is on Ten Sports and Ten Action, with the live streaming option HERE and HERE. The action will be available live on CBS Sports in Canada with online streaming option HERE.
BBC will telecast the games live in the United Kingdom, with live streaming option HERE or follow the updates HERE. Network Ten will broadcast the Commonwealth Games live in Australia with an online viewing option HERE. For International viewers, including the United States, the action will be available live on official Commonwealth Games 2014 YouTube channel for free HERE.
