Jwala, Kashyap get 2012 Olympics confirmation

New Delhi: Parupalli Kashyap will represent India in the London Olympics in men's singles badminton event, while Jwala Gutta's participation in both women's doubles and mixed doubles was confirmed after the world rankings were released on Thursday.

This will be the first time that any of the Indian badminton doubles pairing will get a direct entry in the history of Olympics.

In the 1992 Barcelona Games, Vimal Kumar and Dipankar Bhattacharjee had played in the singles and men's doubles category though they had qualified only in singles and hence were given an entry in doubles event as well.

Jwala became the first Indian to qualify for two badminton events - mixed and women\'s doubles.

As for Jwala, she became the first Indian to qualify for two badminton events - mixed and women's doubles - in the Olympics.

Star shuttler Saina Nehwal has already qualified for the Olympics though she lost in the second round in last week's Indian Open Super Series here.

In total, five Indians will take part in badminton in the London Olympics.

Jwala and her doubles partner Ashwini Ponnappa jumped four places to be placed at number 16th in the rankings, which ensured them a London berth.

In mixed doubles, Jwala and V Diju jumped one place at 14th to make the cut.

But the highest mover was Kashyap, who jumped six places to 24th after his strong performance at the Indian Open where he reached the semifinals.

Before the tournament, Kashyap was 1000 points behind Ajay Jayaram who was the highest-ranked Indian then.

Kashyap needed to win at least two rounds more than Jayaram to qualify for London, which he did. Kashyap reached the semifinals while Jayaram lost in the second round.

Jayaram now occupies the 26th place, moving up one spot from the previous chart.

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