Asked about the pressure on being billed as one of the contenders for the tournament, Kashyap said, "The tag of being one of the tournament favourites is actually a good thing and motivating. At no point do I feel any pressure due to expectations from my fans. It only helps me perform better."
The world number eight sounded optimistic about his chances in the April 23-28 USD 200,000 tournament.
The 26-year-old Kashyap qualified for the 2012 London Olympics in the previous edition here. He went on to reach the quarterfinals in the London Games.
"I always enter a tournament aiming to win and nothing changes in the Yonex Sunrise India Open. I have lot of points to defend, but my focus will be to win the tournament," said Kashyap, the winner of the 2012 Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold tournament.
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"It hasn't been long that I broke into top 10. Things have changed suddenly for me and from being an underdog I have started appearing as a top-seeded player. It proves that anyone can shift gears and be a force to reckon with. I take every match seriously and avoid getting complacent," he said.
Kashyap was knocked out of quarterfinals of this year's All England Open but he said the tournament had helped him a lot in learning his mistakes.