One of the great things about sports is that nothing is guaranteed. So when no. 1-ranked Kento Momota of Japan faced no. 20 Anders Antonsen of Denmark – who had never beaten Momota in three tries – of course Momota was favored
Didn’t turn out that way, as Antonsen won his first significant tournament title, with a 21-16, 14-21, 21-16 victory at the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta.
“The crowd was amazing, so it was an absolute pleasure to play here and it’s a big dream for me to win the tournament in Istora Senayan. It’s an iconic place that we always talk about in Denmark. It’s absolutely crazy to win my first (World Tour) Super 500,” said Antonsen.
“I was six when I started playing badminton and I was always dreaming about winning one of these titles. So it’s crazy… finally I’ve done it. And it’s my first major. I can’t even describe how it feels.
“I’ve had a few good matches with Kento. In two of the matches I thought I had a chance. I saw his match against (Anthony) Ginting and Viktor (Axelsen) and he was amazing. But I’ve also had good confidence from the previous matches in this tournament, so I felt if I did my absolute best, I might have a chance.”
The women’s Singles was also full of drama, as Rio Olympic champ Carolina Marin (ESP) faced India’s Saina Nehwal in the final. But after Marin had a 10-4 lead in the first set, she collapsed in pain on the court and had to retire. For Nehwal, it was her first tournament win since 2017.
“It’s not good to see at all. I’ve been getting injured for the last two-three years, and to see something like this happen is very painful,” said Nehwal. “I know how it is mentally, and I was also upset before the Olympics. It’s a cruel thing for all the players. Carolina is the fittest among us, and if something like that happens to her, it’s very painful.:
The Doubles titles went to no. 1-ranked Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) for the men, no. 2-ranked Misaki Matsutomo and Akaya Takahashi (JPN) for the women and no. 1-ranked Siwei Zhang and Yaqiong Huang in the Mixed Doubles. Summaries:
BWF World Tour/Indonesia Masters
Jakarta (INA) ~ 22-27 January 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s Singles: 1. Anders Antonsen (DEN); 2. Kento Momota (JPN); 3. Jonaton Christie (INA) and Viktor Axelsen (DEN). Semis: Antonsen d. Christie, 21-18, 21-16; Momota d. Axelsen, 21-15, 21-4. Final: Antonsen d. Momota, 21-16, 14-21, 21-16.
Men’s Doubles: 1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA); 2. Mohammed Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (INA); 3. Chengkai Han/Haodong Zhou (CHN) and Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN). Semis: Ahsan/Setiawan d. Han/Zhou, 21-11, 21-17; Gideon/Sukamuljo d. Astrup/Rasmussen, 21-19, 21-13. Final: Gideon/Sukamuljo d. Ahsan/Setiawan, 21-17, 21-11.
Women’s Singles: 1. Saina Nehwal (IND); 2. Carolina Marin (ESP); 3. Bingjiao He (CHN) and Yufei Chen (CHN). Semis: Nehwal d. He, 18-21, 21-12, 21-18; Marin d. Chen, 17-21, 21-11, 23-21. Final: Nehwal d. Marin, 4-10, withdrew.
Women’s Doubles: 1. Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN); 2. So Yeong Kim/Hee Yong Kong (KOR); 3. Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA) and Maya Matsumoto/Wakana Nagihara (JPN). Semis: Matsutomo/Takahashi d. Polii/Rahayu, 22-20, 20-22, 21-12; Kim/Kong d. Matsumoto/Nagihara, 13-21, 22-20, 21-16. Final: Matsutomo/Takahashi d. Kim/Kong, 2-19, 21-15.
Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zhang/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir (INA); 3. Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN) and Peng Soon Chan/Liu Ying Goh (MAS). Semis: Zhang/Huang d. Watanabe/Higashino, 11-21, 21-14, 21-11; Ahmad/Natsir d. Chan/Goh, 22-20, 21-11. Final: Zhang/Huang d. Ahmad/Natsir, 19-21, 21-19, 21-16.
