Kashyap crashes out of Korea Open, loses to Momota in semis

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 semifinals here 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.