Mulheim: Japan’s former World No. 1 Kento Momota has improved his form with each passing round, and as he closed out his 15-21, 21-17, 21-12 victory over compatriot – World No. 14 Kenta Nishimoto in the German Open quarter-finals on Friday.
Highlights of Kento Momota vs. Kenta Nishimoto in the 2023 German Open quarter-finals:
“It was a tough match against Nishimoto, I am very relieved that I could win the match,” said Momota after the match.
Both Momota and Nishimoto had met in the 2022 German Open first round, and it was Nishimoto who walked away with a 23-21, 21-9 victory last year.
“My motivation and my spirit today are much stronger than last year,” added Momota.
“For tomorrow’s semi-finals, Li Shifeng is very tall and very strong in long rallies, I’ll just maintain my same spirit and play my best,” explained Momota.
Two players from Hong Kong – Lee Cheuk Yiu and Angus Ng Ka Long will play each other in the other men’s singles semi-finals.
In men’s doubles, Akira Koga/Taichi Saito who defeated World No. 2 Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik in the second round continued to do well to advance to the semi-finals. Koga/Saito will play No. 7 seeds Choi Sol Gyu/Kim Won Ho on Saturday while Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae will meet Lee Jhe-Huei/Yang Po-Hsuan in the bottom half of the men’s doubles semi-finals.
There will be two blockbuster clashes in the women’s singles semi-finals as Akane Yamaguchi will battle Chen Yufei while He Bingjiao will face off against An Se Young.
Highlights of Akane Yamaguchi vs. Wang Zhiyi in the 2023 German Open quarter-finals:
