Momota, Axelsen, Antonsen & Kashyap enter 2nd round of Korea Open

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World N0 1 Kento Momota, World No 4 Anders Antonsen, Denmark, World No 7 Viktor Axelsen, Denmark, World No 16 Li Zii Jia, Malaysia, and World No 30 Parupalli Kashyap, India, advanced to the 2nd round of Korea Open , an HSBC BWF World Tour Super 500 badminton tournament, at Incheon, South Korea, on September 25, 2019.

Reigning World Champion and top seed Momota beat World No 49 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, 18, Thailand, in straight games 21-17, 21-13 in 37 minutes in first round at Incheon Airport Skydome, Incheon, South Korea on September 25. Momota won 42 rallies in the match to 30 by Kunlavut, a qualifier. He won 8 consecutive points in the match to 3 by Kunlavut, a two-time former World Junior Champion.

Fifth seed Antonsen entered the 2nd round round after World No 13 B Sai Praneeth, India, retired in the second game of their 1st round match due to injury trailing 9-21, 7-11. Praneeth had reached SFs of BWF World Championships at Basel, Switzerland, in August 2019. He had had also reached QFs of Victor China Open last week.

Axelsen, a former World No 1, beat World No 38 Zhao Jun Peng, 23, China, 21-12, 21-15 in 35 minutes in 1st round. Axelsen, the 7th seed, won 42 rallies in the match to 27 by Peng. He won 5 consecutive points in the match to 3 by Peng. Axelsen now leads Peng 3-1 Head to Head.

Kashyap beat World No 61 Lu Chia Hung, 22, Taiwan, 21-16, 21-16 in 42 minutes in 1st round. Kashyap won 42 rallies in the match to 32 by Hung. He won 5 consecutive points in the match to 4 by Hung.