Momota Holds the Aces – Men’s Singles: Preview
The season finale is set to begin, and most of the attention in men’s singles is likely to be focussed on Kento Momota.
· DEV SUKUMAR
The world No.1 swept nearly everything in his wake, and will head in to the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2019 as the runaway favourite.
There are few titles left for Momota to conquer. The season finale is not one of those, for he has won this event previously – in its avatar as the Dubai World Superseries Finals in 2015. Yet, the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals does hold a special challenge for him, for it was at this event last year, at the end of a season which he dominated, that he was ruthlessly cut down by Shi Yu Qi.
In an extraordinary display, Shi blitzed Momota 21-12 21-11 in the final, handing him his worst defeat all year. It is an anomaly he will look to redeem, even though Shi himself has not qualified to the Finals.