Former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap made a solid start to his campaign, defeating Chinese Taipei's Hsu Jen Hao in the qualifying round of the Hong Kong World Tour Super 500 tournament here on Tuesday. Kashyap, who has been battling a series of injuries in the last few years, defeated Hao 21-7 12-21 21-18 in a match that lasted an hour and three minutes. The Indian will next face formidable Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, seeded 7th, in the main draw.

Mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa also recovered from a mid-game slump to outwit Chinese Taipei's Wang Chi-Lin and Lee Chia Hsin 21-16 19-21 21-14 in the opening round of the main draw. The duo will next meet another Taiwanese combination of Lee Yang and Hsu Ya Ching. Kashyap, a former world no 6, has been struggling to be in his best shape ever since his knee injury spoilt his Rio Olympic dream. The Indian had made a good start to the season, wining the Austrian challenge but injuries came back to haunt him. "It has been tough few years for me with injuries.