Copenhagen: Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Parupalli Kashyap crashed out of the prestigious World Badminton Championship after suffering a shocking first-round defeat against Dieter Domke of Germany in the men's singles competition here.
The World No. 27 Indian, who had clinched the biggest title of his career at Glasgow early this August, played his heart out before going down fighting 24-26 21-13 18-21 in a nerve-wrecking battle of attrition which lasted an hour and seven minutes.
However, Indian mixed doubles pair of Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan crossed the opening hurdle, beating Brazilian combination of Hugo Arthuso and Fabiana Silva 21-12 21-14. They will next take on sixth seed German pair of Michael Fuchs and Birgit Michels.
The men's doubles combo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar eked out a 21-19 16-21 22-20 win over Hong Kong's Yun Lung Chan and Chun Hei Lee. The Indian pair will take on fifth seeds Ki Jung Kim and Sa Rang Kim of Korea.
Kashyap, who had lost to Domke during the Thomas Cup in New Delhi in May 2013, squandered a 14-10 lead in the opening game before the German gained the upperhand at the 9,200-seater Ballerup Super Arena.
The Indian dished out a dominating performance in the second game as he opened up a narrow 6-4 lead early on and staved off the challenge from the German, who came as close to 12-13 at one point, to draw level.
In the decider, Kashyap was lagging 7-11 but the Indian caught up with his rival at 13-13 and 17-17. However, Domke ensured he didn't lose any more ground to the Indian before sealing the issue in his favour.
Saina Nehwal and K Srikanth will start their campaign in the women's and men's singles later in the day. Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy B too will take on Russia's Nikita Khakimov and Vasily Kuznetsov in men's doubles.
