A day after stunning World No 1 Chen Long, India’s ace shuttler Parupalli Kashyap goes down to Japanese rising star Kento Momota 21-12, 17-21, 19-21 in the semi-final
Jakarta: Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap’s splendid run at the $800,000 Indonesia Open Superseries Premier ended on Saturday as he lost to Japanese rising star Kento Momota 21-12, 17-21, 19-21 in the men’s singles semi-final here.
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Kashyap, 28, was bidding to reach the summit clash of a Superseries tournament for the first time and set it up beautifully with a stunning 21-12 victory in the first game over world No 9 Momota.
Parupalli Kashyap returns to Japan’s Kento Momota during the Indonesia Open semis on Saturday. Pic/AFP
But the 20-year-old Japanese scripted a stunning comeback to claim the second game before fighting hard to clinch the third and won the match in an hour and 16 minutes at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
Following Kashyap’s loss, India’s campaign in the tournament also ended as he and Saina Nehwal were the only ones who reached the quarter-finals on Friday. Saina lost to China’s Shixian Wang in a final eight contest.
Defeated Kashyap lamented the result. “Just can’t finish it very well... I can’t take the last two points. Very upset, very disappointed,” he said.
With this win, two-time world junior champion Momota reached the final of the Superseries for the second time in this year and also took a 2-0 lead in career meetings over the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Kashyap.
Splendid run
Kashyap, who defeated world No 8 Son Wan ho and world No 1 Chen Long in the second round and quarter-finals, respectively, played an aggressive game from the beginning. His aggression helped him earn eight consecutive points to take a huge lead at 17-8 and that gave him a 21-12 win.
But 2015 Singapore Open champion Momota fought back and turned the heat on Kashyap from the start in the second game. Making his intentions clear, he raced to a 5-1 lead. But Kashyap unleashed high jump smashes to snatch consecutive eight points to build a 9-5 advantage.
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