Momota’s magical year ends with11th title; Chen new No. 1

Shanghai, December 15

World No. 1 Kento Momota fought back from a game down to win his 11th badminton title of the year with victory at the BWF World Tour Finals today. The Japanese had won 10 titles in a remarkable 2019 while opponent Anthony Sinisuka Ginting had won none prior to their final in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. The eighth-ranked Indonesian pushed the hot favourite all the way before Momota prevailed 17-21 21-17 21-14 in 87 high-quality minutes at the season-ending showpiece.

The 23-year-old Ginting has now tasted defeat in all five of his finals this year.

Momota was 12-5 down in the deciding third game and facing a shock defeat. But the 25-year-old, the reigning two-time world champion, surged back. Ginting was trailing 17-14 when he called the doctor on court for treatment on his right foot. The fading Indonesian continued, but Momota rammed home his advantage to seal a stellar season in style.

In the women’s final China’s Chen Yufei also roared back from a game down to defeat Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying 12-21, 21-12, 21-17. Chen will replace Tai as world No. 1 in the latest rankings. — AFP

Results (Finals)

Women’s Singles

Chen Yufei (China) bt Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) 12-21 21-12 21-17 (58 minutes)

Men’s Singles

Kento Momota (Japan) bt Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Indonesia) 17-21 21-17 21-14 (1 hour, 27 minutes)

Women’s Doubles

Chen Qing Chen & Jia Yi Fan (China) bt Mayu Matsumoto & Wakana Nagahara (Japan) 21-14 21-10 (43 min)

Men’s Doubles

Mohammad Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia) bt Hiroyuki Endo & Yuta Watanabe (Japan) 24-22 21-19 (44 min)

Mixed Doubles

Zheng Si Wei & Huang Ya Qiong (China) bt Wang Yi Lyu & Huang Dong Ping (China) 21-14 21-14 (36 min)