Parupalli Kashyap bows out of the Indonesia Open; loses his semifinal in three games

Parupalli Kashyap lost semifinal in three games

India’s Parupalli Kashyap bowed out of the 2015 Indonesia Open after falling to Kento Momota of Japan in three games 21-12 17-21 19-21 in 76 minutes in the semifinals on Saturday.

The match began on a positive note for the Indian as he went 2-0 up early, but it became a neck-and-neck battle between both players at the 3-3 mark and it was Kashyap, who eventually, went ahead at 7-7 mark, winning two point straight to make it 9-7 in his favour.

The World no.12 Kashyap, then further bolstered his advantage his Japanese opponent by winning 8 points on the trot to go from being 9-8 up 17-8 up and that virtually ended all hopes of a Momota come back and he went down 21-12 in the opening game.

The second game saw the Indian get off to a poor start as Momota took an early 5-1 lead but Kashyap came back into the game with a vengeance, winning the next 8 points consecutively to take a 9-5 lead in the game. But just when he had the opportunity to further strengthen his advantage, the Japanese began to peg back and eventually tied it at 11-points apiece.

It proved to be a neck-and-neck contest from there on in, as both players matched one another for point for point, once agin reaching a deadlock, at 15-15. It was Kashyap, who broke the ice at that point, but a sudden surge of 4 straight points for Momota at the 17-17 mark, meant that he sealed the game 21-17 in his favour, thereby taking the match into a decider.

The decider proved to be a riveting contest from the very first game point, as both players refused to give away the advantage and at the 6-6 mark, it was Momota who took the advantage, winning 2 points on the trot and taking the lead in the game.

But Kashyap made a quick comeback to bring the match back on level terms and once again, it proved to be a cracking game from there on in as both players went toe-to-toe.

The decisive turn in the game, though, came when, Momota overturned a 17-16 advantage to win the 5 out of the 7 points and clinch the game and the match in his favour and move into the finals of the competition.