Match Report

Match Report 27(Sat) Jul.
Semi-Final

Kento Momota(JPN) 2 (21-18, 21-12) 0 Sai Praneeth B.(IND)

Momota showed his stable rhythm, always lead the few points from Sai. On the other hand, Sai seemed to aim the non-dominant hand side of Momota, which is the right hand of the side. Because of Sai's strategy, Momota made several errors over the end line. Even though Momota made some errors, it didn't have a big impact on Momota's score. The first game ended by Momota 21-18.

In the second game, Sai clearly changed his strategy, started to make Momota move corner to corner, however, Momota showed his great footwork skill and caught up shuttle very quickly. They used a challenge system, three times in the one game, it showed how both players attacked edge of the court very hard. Momota kept his stable rhythm untill the second of the game and closed the game by 21-16.

After the game, Momota said "I was aiming for a stable playstyle. I will prepare for tomorrow to be a two-time winner of Daihatsu Yonex Open Japan. Before starting this game, I heard lots of children's cheering voices for me. Thank you so much." Sai said, "Momota has a great player who has full skills. I will keep fighting against him."


Nozomi Okuhara(JPN) 2(21-12, 21-18 )0 Li Michelle (CAN)

WR3 Okuhara played against WR14 Li in the semi-final. Since they had played at HSBC BWF WOLRD TOUR FINALS2018 last time, this was the 8th match for them. Recently, Okuhara won 4 times in a row.

In the first game, both players played well without errors. Okuhara and Li reacted
Drop shots and net shots to the fore-court very well, and the rallies were gone long. Okuhara took a lead during rallies with placing shuttles to front and back, left and right. She widened the lead in a rush while earning 7 consecutive points from 11-10 to 18-10. Okuhara closed the first game at 21-12.

Michelle thought back to the game at the mix-zone "My strategy didn't work well in the first game, but in the second game, I could control the rallies because of changing strategy."

They started the second game by earning the point each other. Okuhara earned 3 consecutive points with her patient defense and powerful shots from 8-9 to 11-9 while the interval. The rallies went see-sawed by the score 16-13. Li defended patiently against Okuhara's aggressive offense, and she got a chance at 19-19. However, Okuhara didn't permit Li to close the second game, she won the match 21-19.

At the interview after the match, Okuhara said "Li has power and is tall. So I pay attention to her steep crossed-shots. But I was not satisfied with my performance today."


Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) 2(21-15/ 21-15)0 Chen Yufei(CHN)

The record for them in 2019 is one win and one loss. Japanese ace, Yamaguchi and Chinese ace Chen played the exciting game at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.

In the first game, Chen earned 4 consecutive points from 2-4 with steep shots from her advantageous height. Yamaguchi competed intensively and earned 4 consecutive points from 4-6 to 8-6. And they met the interval with Yamaguchi's lead. After the interval, Chen tried to regain her strength with steep and accurate drop shots, but Yamaguchi hit back with speedy defense. Finally, Yamaguchi earned 7 consecutive points from 12-9 and close the first game, 21-15.

Yamaguchi completely controlled the rallies in the second game. From the very first beginning, she earned 4 consecutive points from 0-1 to 4-1. Chen seemed to lose her concentration and made some unforced errors. on the contrary, Yamaguchi built the consecutive points constantly. She proceeded the rallies to 20-11 with her stable attacks and powerful smashes. Chen showed her guts earning 4 consecutive points in the last phase of the game. But Chen couldn't reach the opponents, and Yamaguchi won the match at 21-15.

Chen said at the mix-zone "I hurt my shoulder, and it affected my today's play." Because of that, she took a medical timeout at 6-13. "Yamaguchi played well and speedy. I couldn't control the rallies."

Yamaguchi said after the match "I tried to play steady and patiently. I play my best at the finals tomorrow."


Mohammad Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan(INA) 2(22-20/ 21-10)0 Takeshi Kamura & Keigo Sonoda(JPN)

Indonesian pair who is the winner of Yonex Japan Open 2013 and Yonex all England open 2019 played against Japanese pair who is the winner of Singapore Open 2019. This was the 7th match for them.

From the beginning of the first game, both pairs grabbed the spectators with exchanging the shuttles with powerful smashes and the patient received shots. Indonesian pair earned 3 consecutive points from 7-8 to 10-8. Indonesian pair kept their lead by the last phase of the game, but the Japanese pair reversed the score with 4 consecutive points from 15-18 to 19-18. Finally, the Indonesian pair won the rallies and closed the game, 22-20.

The second game undergoes a complete change. Indonesian pair controlled the rallies from the beginning, and they never permitted the Japanese pair taking a lead. Japanese pair tried to play aggressively, but the opponent avoided the shots with strategical placement. Indonesian pair won the match, 22-20, 21-10.

Indonesian pair said at the mix-zone "we had a rough time to the opponents' patient play in the first game. In the second game, we could keep our lead and won the game. We hope we play against the pair from Indonesia."

Japanese pair said "we feel good to advance to the semi-final since we are not in good condition. we try our best in the next tournament."


Matsumoto Mayu & Nagahara Wakana(JPN) 2(21-16,21-19)0 Matsutomo Mayu & Takahashi Aya

The very first match of the semi-final has started by two Japanese pairs. All of the badminton fans' eyes were focussed on the court.

In the first game, Matsumoto/Nagahara showed aggressive play, on the other hand, Matsutomo/ Takahashi was moving efficiently corner to corner. Although the game seemed see-saw game, Matsumoto/Nagahara destroyed Matsumoto/Takahashi's pace. Matsumoto/Nagahara took this game at 21-16.

The second game was dominated by Matsumoto/Nagahara. Matsumoto/Takahashi tried to catch up, although they made some unforced errors near the net. The score was led by Matsumoto/Nagahara 12-7. In the last part, Matsumoto /Takahashi showed persistent play, earned 3 corrective points 16-20 to 19-20, it reminds our final game of Rio De Janeiro Olympic, however, the second game was closed by Matsumoto/Nagahara.

In the press interview after the match, Matsumoto/Nagahara said "We could prepare for this match to organize our mind. We were caring about not to make their position, the advance guard is Takahashi and back guard is Nagahara. For tomorrow we will keep our playstyle, and enjoy the final game of the tournament." Matsumoto/Takahasahi said "We were exhausted today because of 3 weeks tournament in a row. We will put our feeling behind and move on for the next tournament."


WANG Yilyu & HUANG Donping (CHN) 2 (21-10, 21-6) 0 CHAN Peng Soon & GOH Liu Ying (MAS)

From the beginning to the end, Wang/Huang dominated the game. Their defense looked like an iron wall. In addition to their perfect defense, once Wang found a chance, he attacked very aggressively. Wang/Huang was not thgy Malaysian to lead the game and pushed their opponent down 21-10 on the first game.

The second game was filled with good rallies from both parties. Again, Wang/Huang not to give the chance for Chan/Goh, therefore Chan/Goh seemed not to have any strategies against Chinese pair. Wang/Huang closed the second game easily by 21-6.

After the game, Wang/Huang said, "They showed their great skills, though we were totally ready for today's game." Chan & Goh said, "We couldn't find their weakness and impossible to play with our own style. We keep moving forward to the next tournament."