Shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap, Sourabh Verma knocked out of Korea Masters

Gwangju: Shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and Sourabh Verma on Wednesday were knocked out in round of 32 of the Korea Masters Super 300, resulting in an end of the Indian challenge here at the Gwangju Women's University Stadium.

Unseeded in the tournament, Kashyap started his campaign against Lee Dong Keun of South Korea, which also marked the fifth meeting between them with their head-to-head record tied at 2-2.

The Indian lost 17-21, 21-13, 21-8 against his South Korean counterpart in a match that lasted more than an hour. After going down in the first game, Kashyap staged a comeback in the second and won it easily. But the Korean surged ahead in the third game, sealing victory by 21-8.

On the other hand, Sourabh Verma was too thwarted by Eetu Heino of Finland in the very first round.

Verma lost the first game but made a dominating comeback against his Finnish opponent in the second. The third game was, however, much closer, but Heino edged Verma 21-13, 12-21, 21-18.