Kento Momota sends Houwei Tian packing in Men’s Singles qualifying round at Li Ning China Masters
Japan’s in-form player Kento Momota found a good start in Men’s Singles qualifying round when he outplayed his local opponent Houwei Tian at the Li Ning China Masters 2012 at Changzhou, China, on Tuesday, September 11.
The impressive Japanese shuttler, who has been showing a great performance for the last few months, worked hard to overpower his Chinese opponent who put up strong resistance on the court but failed to escape a narrow defeat.
Momota played at his best speed and employed everything he had in his possession to overpower his talented opponent in a sensational fight that took two games of remarkable badminton from both sides.
Backed by the huge support of home fans, the young Houwei put up tremendous show of aggressive badminton as he played to his maximum speed and managed to remain close to his experienced Japanese opponent.
However, the Chinese shuttler failed to prove his domination at the ending points and went down with a tight margin on the score board.
The opening game was thrilling when both players locked horns in a spectacular fashion as they put in their best effort to take an early lead but no one could manage it until the end of first half.
The Japanese tried to put up strong show after the break and injected variations in his shots but he failed to shake the balance of his Chinese rival who was quick in taking the bird early.
The score progressed closely from both sides and reached at 22-22 when Momota proved his elevated craft by playing attacking and positive badminton and took the game with a 24-22 score on the board.
The following set was again a tussling battle between both passionate shuttlers as they again pushed each other in all areas of the court. However, the Japanese managed a reasonable gap of 11-8 until the break.
After the interval, Momota played better game and remained ahead on board all the way to finish off the set with a 21-19 margin on the board.
The impressive Japanese player tasted victory by winning the contest in hard-fought straight games with a narrow difference of 24-22 and 21-19.
Tags: