All England Open: Kento Momota seals title after great recovery

Viktor Axelsen seemed to have turned a corner by winning the second game and taking a substantial lead in the third, but the Japanese came roaring back and sealed the win.

Updated : Mar 11, 2019 00:00 IST , CHENNAI

Axelsen faces top seed Kento Momota in the men's final on Sunday.
Axelsen faces top seed Kento Momota in the men's final on Sunday.
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Axelsen faces top seed Kento Momota in the men's final on Sunday.

Kento Momota recovered from being four points down in the third game to win it 21-15 and seal the Championship.

Live updates

21-15 He's done it! Kento Momota seals the final game 21-15 and takes the match 21-11, 15-21, 21-15.

20-14 Championship point for the Japanese Kento Momota.

19-14 Kento Momota is completely in control.

18-12 Kento Momota has taken this game by the scruff of the neck. He now has a six-point lead, having at one stage trailed by four points.

11-9 Kento Momota six of the last eight points and now has a two-point cushion in the decisive third game.

6-5: Axelsen had raced to a 4-0 lead but Momota fights back!

15-21: Axelsen levels things up! The Dane hits it low to Momota, who fails to retrieve it. We move to the deciding set now.

13-19: Axelsen is closing in on leveling the scores here in the final.

13-15: Momota makes a forehand smash with a broken string!

11-10: Momota takes a slender lead into the interval. During the break, Axelsen's coach asks him to change his pace up.

7-8: Axelsen reacts quickly to smash one down the line to regain the lead again.

3-5: Terrific display from Axelsen. He does extremely well to cover his ground and catches Momota off-guard to take a slender two-point lead. 

21-11: That's the opening game. Momota's drop clips the net cord and lands just in, and that's the lead.

18-11: He's no longer inching ahead, Momota is firmly in control of this opening game now! He's raced through three points on the trot and is two points away from taking the first game.

15-11: Axelsen's drop goes just wide and Momota is slowly, but steadily expanding his lead.

12-10: This may sound a tad repetitive, but it's the same forehand smash that seems to be working for Axelsen. He sends the shuttle down-the-line at an alarming pace and Momota has no response.

10-9: Only one point separates the two now! The Dutchman makes a fine recovery to claw his way back with another huge smash.

9-6: Much better display this time around from Axelsen. He pushes Momota for space down the backhand side and unleashes a massive down-the-line smash to trail by three points.

8-4: Momota is putting his opponent under tremendous pressure. The top seed covers ground with ease, while Axelsen is left struggling to catch his breath. Momota has a four-point lead at the mid-game stage.

5-2: Pinpoint accuracy! Momota plays his favoured down the line forehand smash to take a three-point advantage. Axelsen yet to get into a rhythm here.

3-2: Axelsen's lob drifts just wide as Momota takes the early lead.


The players are on the court and we're in for a cracker of a contest. Momota is playing in his third final of the year, while Axelsen aims to become the first Dutchman to win the All England Championship.

The Momota-Axelsen tie will get underway in the next 1- minutes. Stay tuned for live updates.

10:10 pm: The top seeded Chinese pair of Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong defeats the Japanese duo of Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino 21-17, 22-20 to win the mixed doubles final.

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What an inspiring performance from Chen Yufei. She looked in great form, did her homework and brought her A game to the court to beat top seed Tai Tzu Ying in straight sets. Making the win all the more special is the fact that this is Chen's first win over Tai in 12 matches! Take a bow, Chen!

17-21: SHE'S DONE IT! Chen Yufei beats two time defending champion Tai Tzu Ying 21-17, 21-17 to win the All England Open women's title in 44 minutes.

17-19: My word, Chen's just two points away from winning the All England Open Badminton Championship!

17-17: Tai is back on level terms! What a stirring comeback she has made, wow! Her forehand clips the net and catches Chen completely off-guard.

12-16: It appears that Chen has Tai's game completely figured out! She's anticipated almost all of Tai's disguised shots and is now within sniffing distance of her first win against Tai!

9-13: Another Tai unforced error and another easy point for Chen. Tai does all the hard work and does extremely well to toy with her opponent, but fails to get the drop beyond the net.

8-11: Chen takes three straight points to go into the mid-game interval with a crucial lead. Will Tai make a comeback like she did in the first game or will Chen race to a memorable triumph?

7-8: Shocker! Chen is drawn to the net and has the court at her mercy, but buries her smash into the net. Tai says thank you very much and gladly accepts the point.

5-7: Chen does extremely well to cover the court and plays a stunning forehand crosscourt to bag a two-point advantage.

- Second set begins - (Scores read Tai-Chen)

17-21: Chen holds it together to win the opening game against the defending champion! What a tie this is turning out to be.

17-19: How does she do that time and again? Tai plays the perfect drop as the shuttle clips the net and lands just into Chen's court.

15-18: Twenty-eight shots! That's the longest rally of the game and Chen's forehand goes narrowly misses the margin as Tai storms her way back.

13-18: Chen finally manages to claim a point and break Tai's winning spree. Can Chen capitalise and close out the opening game?

11-17: Ah, that's a moment of magic! Tai's back at it with the delicate drops as she reduces the deficit to six points now. Can she make the late comeback?

8-15: She gets it this time! Tai delightfully executes her notorious drop shot and Chen can't get to it. Tai slowly working her way back into this opening game.

5-13: This opening game is slipping away from the defending champ. Her lob sails just past the baseline and Chen seems to have gotten into a phenomenal rhythm. 

4-10: Tai tries a wily drop but can't clear the net and Chen now has a massive six-point advantage! Chen has pushed Tai into making the unforced errors and is looking in fine form.

4-8: Boy oh boy, what a show Chen is putting on! She's won seven of the last eight points to take a healthy four-point lead. 

3-1: The game gets off to a stunning start and Tai races to a 3-1 lead courtesy of a fierce diown-the-line smash.

- First set begins - (Scores read Tai-Chen)

7:20 pm: Here's a stunning stat going into the tie: Tau has beaten Chen in all of their 11 meetings so far! UNDEFEATED.

7:15 pm: The two-time defending champion and top seed, Tai Tzu Ying enters the arena to a rapturous welcome.

Stay tuned, the Tai Tzu Ying vs Yufei Chen game is up next!

7:00 pm: And the Chinese prevail! Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan come back from being a set down to bag the second and third, and with it win the tie. They win 18-21, 22-20, 21-11. This is the pair's 14th title win!

6:40 pm: Oooooh, comeback! The Chinese duo of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan makes a strong comeback to win the second set 22-20. We're down to the deciding third set now.

6:30 pm: This doubles final is going right down to the wire! It's 18 apiece in the second set. 

6:05 pm: The women's doubles final is on and the Japanese pair of Maya Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara wins the first set 21-18 against the Chinese pair of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan.

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The big names of world badminton progressed to the finals of the All England Badminton Championships, with Tai Tzu Ying, in the women's section, and Kento Momota and Viktor Axelsen, in the men's section, coming through their respective last-four matches.

Taiwan's Tai Tzu Ying beat Japanese Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 10-21, 21-8 in the semifinals of on Saturday and has set up a summit clash with Yufei Chen of China. Yufei herself didn't face much resistance from another Japanese, Nozomi Okuhara, in her semifinal clash, winning in straight games 21-17, 21-11.

As it happened

World number one Kento Momota faces an All England Open final showdown with Viktor Axelsen after the Japanese star beat Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus in the last four on Saturday.

Momota was in dominant form as the reigning world champions cruised to a 21-19, 21-11 victory, securing his first appearance in the title match in Birmingham.

The 24-year-old left-hander will bid for his first All England Open title against Denmark's Axelsen, who knocked out China's Shi Yuqi in the other semi-final.

Axelsen prevailed 22-20, 13-21, 21-9 as the 25-year-old reached the final after losing during the last eight three times in a row since 2015.

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