In the Korean Masters, the men’s singles title is guaranteed to be won by a Japanese player, but it’s still uncertain which of the two – the older or the younger star – will emerge victorious.
Kento Momota and Koki Watanabe, both from Japan, secured their spots in the final after defeating their respective opponents in the semi-finals at the Gwangju Women’s University Stadium on Saturday.
The left-handed Kento, 29 years old, defeated China’s Lei Lanxi with scores of 21-10, 21-19, while 24-year-old Watanabe won against Wang Tzu-wei of Taiwan with scores of 21-15, 21-14, setting up an all-Japanese final.
Their head-to-head record stands at 1-1, with Kento winning in the Malaysian Masters in 2022, and Watanabe getting revenge at the Japan Open last year.
Japan also has representation in two other finals, with Tomoka Miyazaki facing Kim Ga-eun in the women’s singles, and Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato going up against Jeong Na-eun and Kim Hye-jung in the women’s doubles.
However, it was the end of the road for Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei in the mixed doubles semi-finals.
Soon Huat-Shevon were defeated by second seeds Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin of China with scores of 21-19, 21-15, marking their third loss to the pair.
A day earlier, they had caused an upset by defeating third seeds Kim Won-ho and Na-eun.
Shevon said, “It’s okay, we gave our best out there.”
Tang Jie and Ee Wei also suffered a defeat, going down 14-21, 17-21 to reigning world champions Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung of South Korea.
