Kashyap,Sridhar knocked out

Anup Sridhar and P Kashyap lost tamely on the opening day of qualifiers at the All England badminton Super Series to mark a poor first day for Indian shuttlers in Birmingham. Kashyap,ranked 30,was packed off by Malaysian World No 46 Wei Feng Chong 21-16 21-8 in 30 minutes,while Anup Sridhar failed to get going,losing 21-8 21-14 to Matthieu Lo Ying Ping of France.

The only positive result came from Trupti Murgunde,who beat Finnish Anu Nieminen 21-18 21-12 to reach the final round of qualifying where she meets Korean Youn Joo Bae. The Indian national champion,ranked 60,took early leads in both sets to win in half an hour,but will need to be at her best to conquer her next opponent,ranked 30 places above her.

Both men would consider their showing well below par after their straight-set losses. Kashyap was outplayed and struggled to launch a comeback after losing the early initiative,going down in 30 minutes. Anup too appeared totally off-colour against the attacking Ying Ping. Saina Nehwal plays her first round on Wednesday against Dutch Judith Meulendijks.