BWF Korea Masters 2023: Momota Kento on verge of final after reaching last four
The world number 52 has reached just his second semi-final of the season, accomplishing the feat at the BWF Super 300 tournament in Gwangju.
Badminton
Momota Kento's run at the BWF Korea Masters Super 300 badminton tournament continued on Friday (10 November) with a 21–16, 21–11 win over Malaysia's Soong Joo Ven.
The former world number one, whose struggles with injury and confidence issues since being involved in a car wreck in January 2020 have seen him drop to his current ranking of 52nd in the world and the sixth-ranked Japanese men's singles player, is into only his second semi-final of the year with the result.
Momota needed 43 minutes to dispatch his 79th-ranked opponent and book a last four matchup against Lei Lanxi from the People's Republic of China. Lei is ranked five places lower than Momota in the world rankings.
The German Open in March provided Momota's only other last-four finish at a World Tour tournament this year, having crashed out in the first round at eight other events and only making the round of 16 in one other tournament.
Momota's last appearance in a final came at the 2022 Malaysian Open over a year ago, where he lost in a one-sided defeat to current world number one Viktor Axelsen.
You can watch Momota in action at the Korea Masters watch live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com (territorial restrictions may apply).