India’s Parupalli Kashyap qualified for the men’s singles semi-finals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament in Incheon on Friday.
The 33-year-old defeated Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 24-22, 21-8 and will now face world champion Kento Momota for a spot in the final.
Kashyap is the only Indian player remaining in the tournament and he put in a brilliant effort on Friday.
The first game of the quarter-final saw both players remain neck and neck for the most part. Jorgensen seemed set to take the opener after leading 11-8 at the mid-game interval. The Danish player even had two game points but couldn’t close it out.
The credit must go to Kashyap, though, as he hung in there and showed nerves of steel at the end of the first game.
In the second game, it was all Kashyap as he closed out the match without any hiccup. It has been an incredible run by the Indian after being promoted into the main draw from the qualifiers. He will have his task cut out against world No 1 Momota in the semi-finals.
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