Momota ends Japan’s 48-year wait for men’s singles title in Denmark
ODENSE: World No. 1 Kento Momota ended Japan’s 48-year wait for the men’s singles title by winning the Danisa Denmark Open.
But the victory did not come easy as the 24-year-old had to dig deep into his reserves to beat a solid Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan 22-20, 16-21, 21-15 in a grueling match that went on for one hour and 17 minutes at the Odense Sports Centre yesterday.
Momota, however, did not give up even though Tien-chen was piling on the pressure and hung on for the win.
Momota was happy to become the second Japanese to win the Danish Open after Ippei Kojima’s effort in 1970.
“It was one of the toughest matches. I’m so tired but I’m glad to win my first Danish Open title,” said Momota.
Meanwhile, world No. 1 Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan justified her status by recovering from a poor second game to beat Saina Nehwal of India 21-13, 13-21, 21-6 in 52 minutes to win her first Danisa Denmark Open women’s singles title.
She started the match in brilliant fashion and led all the way to win but somehow lost the plot in the second game and that made her mad.
She grew frustrated with every mistake
against the spirited Saina, who just found the right touches to break Tzu-ying’s resolve to take the second game.
Tzu-ying entered the decider with renewed zest and showed no mercy as she blew the Indian away.
“It’s getting tougher,” admitted Tzu-ying. “Saina really came on strong in the second game and broke my rhythm. I could not find ways to unsettle her.
“The women’s singles competition has just grown very competitive. Every player is improving and I can see their progress year in, year out.
She lost to several Chinese players - He Bingjiao, Chen Xiaoxin, Gao Fangjie – and Thailand’s Intanon Ratchanok over the last three months after staying unbeaten since the season started.
“I just have to hang in there and make good points to maintain my No. 1 tag,” she said.