BWF Korea Open 2019: Parupalli Kashyap crashes out with semi-final defeat to World No 1 Kento Momota

Incheon: Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap’s impressive run at the Korea Open Super 500 tournament came to an end after he lost to world number 1 Kento Momota of Japan in the men’s singles semi-finals on Saturday.

A former World No 6, Kashyap, who was the lone Indian left in fray, went down 13-21, 15-21 to the two-time reigning world champion Momota in 40 minutes.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, who was promoted from the qualifying round, had last played Momota four years ago at the Indonesia Open. Kashyap had a 0-2 record against the Japanese prior to Saturday’s encounter.

The 33-year-old from Hyderabad, who had reached the finals at Canada Open this year, showed the intent to hang in the rallies as the duo played a lot of tosses and lifts.

However, Kashyap had no answers to Momota’s precision as the Japanese opened up a 9-5 lead early on. A deceptive return and a body smash gave the Indian a couple of points before the Japanese entered the break with a four-point advantage after a long rally.

Kashyap didn’t take enough initiative and often hit wide and long to end the energy-sapping rallies. It acted in Momota’s favour as he continued to accumulate points, reaching 18-10.

The Japanese committed an uncharacteristic unforced error and soon Kashyap added two more points but unforced errors, including a wide shot, gave Momota a comfortable 20-13 lead and he sealed it when Kashyap went wide again.

Valient show by the Indian🇮🇳 baddie @parupallik comes to an end at the #KoreanOpenSuper500 as he went down 21-13; 21-15 in the semi-finals to #KentoMomota.

Incredible week, kudos man!#IndiaontheRise #badminton pic.twitter.com/M773Hp5Q4M

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) September 28, 2019

In the second game, the rallies became faster as Momota produced angled returns to put Kashyap out of position and then unleashed his precise strokes.

The left-handed Momota soon worked up a lead of 7-2 with Kashyap missing the line far too many times.

Kashyap slowly started putting pressure on Momota and gathered five straight points but the Japanese managed to held on to a 11-7 lead at the breather.

The Indian unleashed a couple of smashes on Momota’s forehand to slowly narrow the lead to 11-12. A superb net stroke brought Kashyap to level par but he then hit the nets and send one long as the Japanese again surged ahead.

Momota soon made it 19-13 and grabbed six match points with a cross court smash. Kashyap saved one before the Japanese unleashed another accurate return to seal his place in the summit clash.