Another Momota Milestone – Finals: DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2018
Kento Momota made history for Japan today as he became the first home player to win the Men’s Singles title at the Japan Open.
· DEV SUKUMAR
Momota’s stellar year continued as he followed up on his Asian title and the World Championships gold to win the DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2018, an HSBC BWF World Tour 750 event. In the process, he halted the spectacular run of Thai dark horse Khosit Phetpradab, who had made his first major Men’s Singles final.
Momota’s was the first of two Japanese gold medals on the day, as Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota won the Women’s Doubles in the next match. However, Women’s Singles home crowd favourite Nozomi Okuhara was outgunned by World champion Carolina Marin (Spain).
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Indonesia) and Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (China) continued their dominance of Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles respectively, with the Indonesians winning their sixth title of the year and the Chinese their fifth.