Kashyap bows out of Japan Open

It was curtains for India at the USD 275,000 Japan Open after Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap suffered a straight-game loss to Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in the men’s singles quarter-final here on Friday.

The World No 8, who had a 2-1 record going into the match, lost 14-21, 18-21 to the sixth seed Chen in a 42-minute match at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Kashyap, who was the lone surviving Indian after top shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy made <g data-gr-id="28">early</g> exit in the second round, found the going tough against Chen on Friday.

In the first game, Chen opened up a 5-2 lead early on and even though Kashyap drew parity with three points, the sixth seed broke off at 8-8 and never looked back to earn the bragging right.

Kashyap held a brief lead at 4-2 in the second game but he could not exert enough pressure on his opponent from Chinese Taipei, who once again raced ahead with six-point burst to lead 8-4 and then slowly kept increasing the distance.

The Indian kept breathing down his neck and even made it to <g data-gr-id="24">18-20</g> but Chen ensured <g data-gr-id="25">their</g> was no hiccup as he shut the door on Kashyap and entered the semifinals of the tournament.

“I could not play my game on Friday. There was a lot of mis-hitting the shuttle and also I made a few wrong judgements,” Kashyap said. 

“I got my flow in the second game in the <g data-gr-id="23">end</g> but it was too late by then. He is playing very well nowadays,” he added. Kashyap will next play in the Korea Open.