JAKARTA: Japanese rising star Kento Momota crushed defending champion Jan O. Jorgensen of Denmark at the men's singles finals to win the Indonesia Open on Sunday.
In a nail-biting 66-minute battle, the two-time world junior champion Momota showed grit and tenacity as he chased down every shot and battled for every point to a well-deserved upset win of 16-21, 21-19, 21-7.
Momota went down 16-21 in the first set, but never gave up and continued to engage the Dane in long rallies, formidable net play and on-point aggressive smashes to win the second set with a slim 21-19 scoreline.
There was a smile of triumph on his face as he took control of the third set. Last year's men's singles winner Jorgensen cracked under pressure and hit either too long or wide to trail by a wide margin and hand the men's singles title to Momota.
"I was nervous in the first game. Then I convinced myself that if I could win the second game, I would win the whole match," Momota said. "In future, I want to strengthen myself mentally," he added.
Jorgensen said he was "really disappointed" with his performance, especially in the second set.
"This was my game and I think I had all the chances I needed when I was leading 16-14 in the second set. Had been leading all the way so yes... really disappointing," he said.
In the third set, Momota "got a good start and he made some easy points and I made some mistakes", he said.
"And then suddenly he had a big lead and it's tough to catch up," he added.
Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon easily took down Japan's Yui Hashimoto in straight games to clinch the women's singles title.
Intanon, who was contesting the final for the second consecutive year, walloped the Japanese with solid, precise smashes and finished her off with a 21-11, 21-10 scoreline in only 42 minutes.
"I am happy to win," Intanon said. "The opponent appeared tired and not giving the maximum perhaps due to previous matches," she added.
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