<p class="title">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A former world no. 6, Kashyap, who was the lone Indian left in the fray, went down 13-21 15-21 to the two-time reigning world champion Momota in 40 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the second game, the rallies became faster as Momota produced angled returns to put Kashyap out of position and then unleashed his precise strokes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The left-handed Momota soon worked up a lead of 7-2 with Kashyap missing the line far too many times.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kashyap slowly started putting pressure on Momota and gathered five straight points but the Japanese managed to hold on to a 11-7 lead at the breather.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Indian unleashed a couple of smashes on Momota's forehand to slowly narrow the lead to 11-12. A superb net stroke brought Kashyap to level par but he then hit the nets and send one long as the Japanese again surged ahead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota soon made it 19-13 and grabbed six match points with a cross-court smash. Kashyap saved one before the Japanese unleashed another accurate return to seal his place in the summit clash.</p>
<p class="title">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A former world no. 6, Kashyap, who was the lone Indian left in the fray, went down 13-21 15-21 to the two-time reigning world champion Momota in 40 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the second game, the rallies became faster as Momota produced angled returns to put Kashyap out of position and then unleashed his precise strokes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The left-handed Momota soon worked up a lead of 7-2 with Kashyap missing the line far too many times.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kashyap slowly started putting pressure on Momota and gathered five straight points but the Japanese managed to hold on to a 11-7 lead at the breather.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Indian unleashed a couple of smashes on Momota's forehand to slowly narrow the lead to 11-12. A superb net stroke brought Kashyap to level par but he then hit the nets and send one long as the Japanese again surged ahead.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota soon made it 19-13 and grabbed six match points with a cross-court smash. Kashyap saved one before the Japanese unleashed another accurate return to seal his place in the summit clash.</p>