Changzhou: Playing in front of a roaring crowd and after dropping the first set, Japan’s World No. 1 men’s singles shuttler, Kento Momota staged a remarkable come back to beat home favorite and Rio Olympic champion Chen Long 19-21, 21-18, 21-16 to enter the China Open final on Saturday.
The top seeded Japanese dominated the first game by leading 19-15. However, with the support of home crowd, Chen reeled off 6 consecutive points to take the first game 21-19.
Momota then fought back to win a very close second set 21-18 and wrapped up the decider 21-16.
“Wow, that was an extremely tough game, and Chen Long was a strong player,” said Momota.
“No matter who I play in the final, I will bring my best game,” added Momota.
On the other hand, Chen remained upbeat despite the defeat.
“We both played well in today’s semi-final,” said Chen.
“I am not going to immerse myself in sorrow. The most important thing for me right now is to prepare for tomorrow’s training,” added Chen.
The No. 1 seed Momota will take on No. 7 seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia who took down No. 8 seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark 18-21, 21-5, 21-14.
In men’s doubles, reigning World Champions Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan saved one set-point, rallied from 19-20 to take the first game 22-20 against No. 3 seeds Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen of China. Ahsan/Setiawan then finished up the second set against the Chinese pair 21-11 to set up an all-Indonesian final against No. 1 seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
