Kowloon: World No. 1 men’s singles player Kento Momota of Japan remained on course for capturing his eighth title of the season when he came from behind to beat Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 22-24, 21-9, 21-9 in the Hong Kong open quarter-finals.
“I would like to put on a good show for the crowd. I always play hard when I am on the court,” said Momota after the match.
“Christie was exhausted in the third set, and I outpaced him by speeding up my footwork,” added Momota.
The 24-year-old Japanese will take on Korea’s Son Wan Ho in the final four on Saturday.
In a heavyweight women’s singles quarter-final battle, World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan had to dig deep to oust reigning Olympic and world champion Carolina Marin of Spain 18-21, 21-9, 21-14 to set up a semi-final meeting with No. 7 seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s No. 6 seed Ratchanok Intanon rolled past Japan’s second seed and this year’s World Championship bronze medalist Akane Yamaguchi in a surprisingly easy women’s singles quarter-final match as she came through 21-9, 21-16 in 41 minutes.
“It was really a tough match for me. Yamaguchi is really a strong player,” said Intanon.
“Fortunately, I was able to take control of the match, forcing her to follow my rhythm,” added Intanon.
Intanon will take on Sung Ji Hyun of Korea on Saturday.
Although they have just returned from retirement three months ago, Korea’s former World No. 1 men’s singles player Lee Yong-Day/Kim Gi Jung have given current World No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia a good run for their money when they prevailed 22-20 in the first set before losing the next two 21-9, 21-15.
Gideon/Sukamuljo will take on compatriots Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan in the semi-finals.
