Korea Open: P Kashyap enters semi-final with easy win over Jorgensen

Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap continues his superb winning run at the Korea Open Super 500 event with a straight-game victory over former World No 1 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark in a 37-minute men's singles encounter on Friday. The 33-year-old fit-again Hyderabad lad outsmarted Jorgensen 24-22, 21-8 to make it to his second semi-final of the BWF season. Kashyap had reached the last-four at the India Open Super 500 tournament earlier this year, but injuries kept him out for the major part of the season.

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Early scare

The Hyderabad-born shuttler was initially stretched by Jorgensen at the net, but Kashyap responded by mixing his strokes judiciously after the mid-game break to snatch the opening game 24-22 from the Dane. The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist started the second game with vigour and took a 7-3 lead in a jiffy.

Errors kept flowing from Jorgensen’s racquet as Kashyap capitalised on the Danish shuttler’s loose strokes from the backcourt. The Indian was on the front foot at the mid-game interval at 11-7 and went on to earn consecutive points to wrap the second game 21-8. With that win, he secured his spot in the last four in Incheon.

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Kashyap will next face World No 1 Kento Momota of Japan in the semi-final on Saturday. The Japanese ace breezed past Malaysia's 21-15, 21-9 in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Kashyap registered a hard-fought 21-17, 11-21, 21-12 win over Malaysia's Liew Daren, in the Round of 16 clashes that lasted almost an hour. Meanwhile, Jorgensen had qualified for the last-eight with a 21-17, 16-21, 13-21 win over Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.

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On Wednesday, Kashyap emerged as the lone Indian to survive in the singles event after star shuttlers PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, and B Sai Praneeth made first-round exits.

Kashyap had registered a comfortable 21-16, 21-16 over Lu Chia Hung of Chinese Taipei to make his way to the second round of the men's singles event.

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