Momota first Japanese man to win world title
NANJING: Kento Momota became the first Japanese man to win the badminton World Championships yesterday, putting behind him a gambling scandal that threatened to ruin his career.
The explosive 23-year-old convincingly defeated China’s highly promising Shi Yuqi 21-11, 21-13 in Nanjing.
Momota’s nascent career descended into controversy in 2016 when Japanese badminton chiefs suspended him for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino, denying him a place at the Rio Olympics.
Momota, number two in the world at the time, has been working his way back to the top ever since and the worldranked seven is currently in the form of his life.
But in Shi Yuqi he faced another of badminton’s rising stars.
The brilliantly agile 22-year-old defeated legend Lin Dan and Olympic champion Chen Long on the way to the final to confirm his newfound status as China’s best player.
Shi Yuqi has a long way to go to emulate his more seasoned compatriots, but defeating Chen Long for just the second time in the semi-finals was evidence of a changing of the guard in Chinese men’s badminton.
Shi Yuqi captured the All England Open crown earlier this year after beating Lin “Super Dan” in the final.
Carolina Marin claimed a slice of history as the Spaniard became the first woman to win three badminton world titles with an emphatic victory over P.V. Sindhu of India.
The aggressive Carolina is now the reigning world and Olympic champion thanks to an imperious 21-19, 21-10 win.
The all-action 25-year-old adds the 2018 crown to her titles in 2014 and 2015, and the Olympic gold she won from the unlucky Sindhu at Rio 2016.
It was more disappointment for Sindhu, who has suffered a string of nearmisses in recent times.