Momota Leads Fightback – Japan Open: Day 4
Japan recovered from early setbacks today at the DAIHATSU YONEX Japan Open 2019 to ensure a strong home presence in tomorrow’s semifinals.
· DEV SUKUMAR
After mixed doubles third seeds Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino and women’s doubles defending champions Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota fell in straight games in today’s quarterfinals, men’s singles posterboy Kento Momota led the Japanese charge.
Momota relied on his percentage game to frustrate familiar rival Anthony Ginting, setting the stage for his compatriots Nozomi Okuhara, Akane Yamaguchi, Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi, Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara and Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda to join him in the semifinals. The only other reverse for Japan was in men’s doubles, with Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe beaten by Li Jun Hui/Liu Yu Chen.
Akane Yamaguchi once again proved too hard for Pusarla V Sindhu to crack. In somewhat similar fashion to last Sunday’s Indonesia Open final, Yamaguchi produced another near-flawless game to break down Pusarla, 21-18 21-15.