BWF Korea Masters 2023: Momota Kento through to first final of the year
Japan's former world number one saw off Lei Lanxi and will now face compatriot Watanabe Koki at the BWF Super 300 tournament in Gwangju.
Badminton
Momota Kento is one win away from his first title since November 2021.
Japan's two-time badminton world champion and former world number one defeated Lei Lanxi of the People's Republic of China 21-10, 21-19 on Saturday (11 November) to make the final of the BWF Korea Masters in Gwangju.
Momota has suffered with injuries and confidence issues since being involved in a car accident in Malaysia in January 2020 and is currently ranked 52 in the world.
But the 29-year-old has returned to form this week, winning all four of his matches in straight games.
Against fellow left-hander Lei, he went into an 11-5 lead at the interval before wrapping up the first game in just 17 minutes.
The second game was far closer with Momota showing great defence to take an 11-10 advantage into the second mid-game break.
Momota then won the next four points to take a stranglehold on the match, but Lei fought back to close to within one as errors started to creep into the Japanese star's game.
Momota just managed to stay in front and converted his second match point to reach his first BWF World Tour final since last July's Malaysia Open where he went down to Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen.
On Sunday, Momota will meet fellow Japanese Watanabe Koki after the seventh seed defeated Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei 21-15, 21-14.
Should Momota win, it would end a two-year title drought since he beat Anders Antonsen in the Indonesian Masters final in November 2021.
You can watch the all-Japanese affair, and all the action on finals day at the BWF Super 300 tournament, live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com (territorial restrictions may apply).
Results from BWF Super 300 Korea Masters semi-finals:
Mixed doubles: [1] Seo Seung-jae/Chae Yu-jung (KOR) def. [4] Cheng Tang Jie/Ee Wei Toh (MAS) 21-14, 21-17
Women's singles: [1] Kim Ga-eun (KOR) def. Takahashi Asuka (JPN) 21-16, 21-7
Men's singles: [7] Watanabe Koki (JPN) def. Wang Tzu Wei (TPE) 21-15, 21-14
Women's singles: Miyazaki Tomoka (JPN) def. Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo (INA) 21-14, 15-21, 21-12
Men's singles: Momota Kento (JPN) def. Lei Lanxi (CHN) 21-10, 21-19
Women's doubles: [5] Hirokami Rui/Kato Yuna (JPN) def. Heu Yin-Hui/Kin Jhih Yun (TPE) 21-23, 22-20, 21-17
Women's doubles: Jeong Na-eun/Kim Hye-jeong (KOR) def. Hobara Sayaka/Suizu Yui (JPN) 12-21, 21-19, 21-16
Men's doubles: [3] Lee Jhe-huei/Yang Po-hsuan (TPE) def. Kang Min-hyuk/Seo Seung-jae (KOR) 21-19, 21-18
Mixed doubles: [2] Jiang Zhenbang/Wei Yaxin (CHN) def. [5] Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie (MAS) 21-19, 21-15
Men's doubles: Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin (TPE) def. Fang-Chih Lee/Fang-Jen Lee (TPE) 21-17, 21-6