Austrian International Challenge: Kento Momota snatches Men’s Singles crown from Riichi Takeshita
Japan’s budding shuttler Kento Momota served notice of his potential in the international arena by claiming the Men’s Singles crown in Austrian International Challenge on February 23, 2013.
He was up against a compatriot shuttler Riichi Takeshita and their meeting lasted for 39 minutes before ending with decisive figures of 21-19 and 21-12.
Kento Momota, who was an underrated player earlier in this tournament, lived up to his billing and sealed a splendid straight-set victory.
On the other hand, Riichi could not employ an effective counterattack strategy and remained at the lower end in most part of the game.
The battle heated up immediately in the beginning of first set as Kento launched a brisk attack and laid foundation of his supremacy. He bagged many valuable points without any interruption and strengthened his grip way before the interval.
In the establishing rallies, he played with an authoritative approach and confined his challenger in the rear court by unleashing a series of power packed strokes.
Though, Riichi made every effort to come out of his rival’s influence but he could not counterbalance the situation.
The first ended with Kento Momota having an upper hand with a significant lead on the points table. He resumed his campaign after the one-minute break and left his competitor far behind on the points table.
He kept on pocketing the vital points at a steady pace and finished this segment of the showdown with an impressive result of 21-19.
The second set was completely dominated by the spirited Japanese youngster as he did not give Riichi even a single chance to come back.
This time he played with even more precision and outclassed his opponent technically and tactically.
In first half of the set, he prevailed in many consecutive rallies and established an unassailable lead way before the announcement of mid-game break.
The latter part of game also belonged to him as he played impeccable badminton and ruled the court. His flawless strategy made possible for him to wrap this showdown in just two games.
At first, he mounted pressure with few uninterrupted points in third quarter of the set and then locked the honour with an overwhelming score of 21-12.
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