Incheon: Japan’ World No. 1 Kento Momota kept his nerve on Friday to hold off a second set challenge from Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the quarter-final of Korea Open, before seeing off the Malaysian 21-15, 21-19 in 50 minutes at the Incheon Ariport Skydome.
Friday’s loss was Lee’s fourth consecutive defeat to Momota and he was clearly disappointed with the result.
“I tried my best and I am really not happy with my performance,” said Lee.
The Kedah-born player admitted that there’s still a lot of gap to fill between him and Momota.
“All I can to is continue to practice hard to narrow the gap between Momota and myself. That’s my goal, it’s not easy but I will work hard to make it happen,” added Lee.
Momota will set up a semi-final battle with Indian player Parupalli Kashyap on Saturday. Kashyap outlasted Denmark’s Jan Jorgensen 24-22, 21-8 to enter the last four.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s men’s doubles pair, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin Rumsani was also eliminated in the quarter-final after losing 18-21, 21-18, 18-21 to Korea’s rising men’s pair Choi Solgyu/Seo Seung Jae in 68 minutes.
Choi/Seo will take on Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda of Japan next.
In women’s singles, Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan who has regained the World No. 1 spot this week, will play Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand for a ticket to the final.
