Guangzhou: Kento Momota of Japan has advanced to the final of the BWF World Tour Finals on Saturday as he prevailed 21-14, 21-12 over South Korean player Son Wan-Ho in 52 minutes.
Momota will face China’s Shi Yuqi in the final. He holds a 3-0 career meeting record against Shi prior to Sunday’s final. All Momota’s three victories against Shi Yuqi occurred in 2018, including the Badminton Asia Championships second round, the final of World Championships and the semi-final of China Open.
Victory in Guangzhou would be a fitting end to a spectacular year for Kento Momota in which he has reached number one in the world for the first time and won his maiden world title.
Meanwhile, Shi Yuqi, survived a battling test by India’s Sameer Verma before making the final.
Shi lost to Verma 12-21 in the first set. Just when the fans were anticipating a Momota and Verma final when the Indian shuttler was leading 20-19 in the second set, Shi scored three consecutive points to force a decider.
The Chinese player was in complete control in the third-set as he showed good attacking instinct to see off Verma 21-17.
“Verma is a very strong player, he knows how to use his body and movement to save some difficult shots,” said Shi.
When asked about how he feels when facing Kento Momota in the final, he was determined to put up a good fight against Momota.
“I am not afraid about Kento Momota, even if I had to play him in the semi-final.”
“I am in a better condition right now compared to some of my previous performances.”
“The most important in tomorrow’s final is to play my best, and I am not going to give myself too much pressure.”
In men’s doubles final, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen of China will play their Japanese rivals Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe for the year end title.
