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.
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.
But the 20-year-old Japanese scripted a stunning comeback to claim the second game before fighting hard to clich 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. With this win, two-time Momota reached the final of the Superseries for the second time in this year.
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. His aggression helped him earn eight consecutive points to take a huge lead at 17-8 and that gave him a 21-12 win.