INCHEON, Sept 27: Indian shuttler Parupalli Kashyap progressed to the men�s singles semifinals of the Korea Open World Tour Super 500 with a straight-game win over former World No. 2 Denmark�s Jan O Jorgensen here on Friday.
In a clinical display, the 33-year-old from Hyderabad, who is the lone Indian left in fray, outsmarted Jorgensen 24-22, 21-8 in 37 minutes to make it to his second semifinal of the season. He had reached the last four at the India Open Super 500 tournament.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold-medallist will now face World No. 1 and two-time world champion Kento Momota of Japan on Saturday.
A former World No. 6, Kashyap, who was promoted from the qualifying round, had last played Jorgensen five years ago at the Denmark Open.
The Indian entered the match with a 2-4 record against Jorgensen, a 2015 World Championship bronze medallist.
In the first game, the duo engaged in short rallies initially and spilt the first 8 points. A couple of backhand error and Kashyap was lagging 5-8.
Another miscued shot at the net and a wide smash gave Jorgensen an 11-8 advantage at the break.
After the interval, Kashyap garnered a few quick points to turn the tables on his rival, reaching 14-12. The Dane hit the net thrice and also went long, while Kashyap unleashed two powerful cross court smashes. A precise slice helped Jorgensen break the run of points and then level par when Kashyap committed an error.
The duo fought hard, moving from 14-14 to 18-18. A timely video referral gave Kashyap another point but he sent one to the net as it was 19-19.
Jorgensen then held the game point opportunity after a precise smash at the backline. However, a jump smash from the Indian made it 20-20.
Kashyap then earned a game point only to give it away. However, the Indian grabbed a second game point opportunity and converted it when his opponent hit the net. He thus sealed the first game which lasted 22 minutes.
The second game started on a similar note with the duo tied 3-3 initially. Kashyap then took control of the net and curbed his errors to reel off five straight points. � PTI
