Calgary: Former World No. 2 Kento Momota was beaten in his return from a 13th-month suspension absence, losing 22-20, 14-21, 21-14 to No. 6 seed Kanta Tsuneyama in the final of the Canada Open in Calgary on Sunday (local time in Canada).
The 21-year-old Tsuneyama, who won the 2017 Austrian Open in February, saved one set point and converted the next two chances to win the first set 22-20.
Momota regrouped brilliantly and came out rocking in the second set, quickly regained his composure to win the second set 21-14.
The 22-year-old Momota looked physically drained in the decider, as he battled doggedly from 0-7 to tie the game 9-9, before finally succumbing to Tsuneyama’s explosive firepower and fast-paced playing style, losing 14-21 in the third set.
In addition to men’s singles, the Japanese camp also took home women’s doubles and women’s singles titles through No.6 seeds Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara and Saena Kawakami.
In an all-Korean mixed doubles final, unseeded Kim Won Ho/Shin Seung Chan pulled off a huge upset to beat No. 1 seeds Choi Solgyu/Chae Yoo Jung 21-19, 21-16.
Meanwhile in the men’s doubles, British pair and No. 8 seeds Peter Briggs/Tom Wolfenden notched up a hard-fought 3-set thriller to beat Kim Won Ho/Seung Jae Seo of Korea 22-20 , 16-21, 21-19 in 57 minutes.
Looked like momota’s match was rigged. He was definitely NOT physically drained. In fact, the last point was remarkable in that Momota had complete control of the rally… almost as if to say “look… I’m not even tired even though this guy is beating me”.
I wonder if this match was a loss right from the beginning. Maybe a type of imposed atonement from the Nipon Badminton Association before letting him rejoin the national team.
I’m not even a fan of Momota, but I know he can play better than that. He showed glimpses of it throughout. Many of the points to Tsuneyama were actually unforced errors from Momota. I feel those smashes were hitting the net by design.