A wrong umpiring decision dashed P Kashyap's hopes of a maiden Commonwealth Games final but Saina Nehwal and women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa assured India of silver medals after advancing to the finals of the badminton event in New Delhi on Tuesday.
In a nail-biting semi-final clash, which went down to the wire, Kashyap and Rajiv Ouseph were locked at 18-all in the decider when a cross-court smash by the English shuttler landed just outside the left side of the court.
But the line umpire judged it in and the Indian lost his semi-final match 21-19, 12-21, 21-18 after a 65-minute battle at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
Melbourne bronze medallist Chetan Anand lost his last-four tie against world number one and top seed Lee Chong Wei 11-21, 12-21 in just 24 minutes, much to the disappointment of the packed crowd, which also included Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar.
However, Jwala-Ashwini enthralled the spectators with a 12-21, 21-13, 21-11 win over Australian Tang He Tian and Wilson-Smith Kate in a 47-minute battle.
Top seed Saina Nehwal then battled past third seed Susan Egelstaff 21-10, 21-17 to inch closer to her maiden Games gold medal.
However, it was Kashyap's nerve-wrecking semi-final which left India heartbroken.
In the thrilling tie, Kashyap pocketed the first game after opening up a 11-6 lead at the break.
With the change of sides, Kashyap found the going tough and committed too many unforced errors as Rajiv raced way to a 7-0 lead. The Indian tried to slow down the pace and played long rallies and narrowed down the lead to 8-12 but Rajiv was better at the nets as he bounced back to draw level.
In the decider, Kashyap again opened up a lead of 11-6 at the break but again a change of sides saw him committing unforced errors and losing points at the net as Rajiv drew level at 16-16, before leading 18-17. The Indian took another point to draw level but with the controversial line call going against him, Kashyap lost two more points to lose the match.
Kashyap protested but the chair umpire Louwrens Bester of South Africa didn't overrule the decision.
"Yes, it was clearly out. The umpire could have overruled it. But he didn't. What can I say? I am disappointed. It cost me the match," Kashyap said of the decision.
Asked about the match, Kashyap said, "He (Rajiv) was ready for my strokes today. He was anticipating them. I couldn't play the cross-court shots. I gave him too many mid-court shots, which he comfortably smashed. He was playing better at the nets but still I could have won it."
Kashyap will play compatriot Chetan Anand in the bronze play-off on Wednesday.
Up against Susan, Saina cantered to an easy 21-10 win in the first game but Susan came back strongly in the second game and gave Saina a good fight as she moved from 12-12, to 15-15 before leading 17-16.
But Saina soon registered five straight points to seal the issue in her favour much to the delight of the crowd.
"It was an easy game. I took unnecessary tension and brought myself in a difficult situation in the second game. But I am happy my hard work paid off. In the final it will be a difficult match, it will be 50-50 as Mew Choo (Wong) is equal to me," Saina said.
In the women's doubles, Jwala-Ashwini had to toil hard for their win as the pair trailed 11-8 at the break. But the Indian duo came back in the second and were 11-9 at the break before wrapping it up with five straight points.
In the decider, the Indian combo attacked, and after leading 11-7, closed it comfortably to become the first Indian women's pair to reach the final of the Commonwealth Games.
"I am happy that we have reached the final. There was pressure on us after Chetan and Kashyap lost. The home crowd helped us a lot. My strokes and placing couldn't go properly. I tried to play too fast in the first game and, in the second game, we slowed down. I mended the back court and Ashwini played at the nets," Jwala said.
"In the first game I was tentative, in the second game we changed our strategy and changed our game. They were weak in defence, so we pressed into attacking mode," Ashwini said.
