Japan's Kento Momota reacts after he defeated Viktor Axelesn of Denmark in the final of the badminton World Seperseries Finals in Dubai on Sunday.
KUALA LUMPUR: Kento Momota and Nozomi Okuhara (EPA pic, below) made it a delightful rare double for Japan at the BWF World Superseries Finals.
The 21-year-old Momota bagged the men’s singles title while the 20-year-old Okuhara won the women’s singles crown at the US$1mil (RM4.2mil) season finale in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
World No. 5 Momota proved that he is one of the stars to watch out for next year when he took just 38 minutes to beat Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 21-15, 21-12 in the final.
The 21-year-old Axelsen can still walk tall despite the defeat as, just a day earlier, he had upset two-time world champion Chen Long of China in the semi-finals.
It was his first win over the world No. 1, proving that he too is set to be threat next season.
Okuhara’s achievement is a big surprise as she survived a tough ordeal to beat third seed Wang Yihan of China 22-20, 21-18 in the final that stretched for one hour and three minutes.
Okuhara, who shed tears of joy after clinching the winning point, has clearly underlined her potential after beating reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain twice in the group and semi-finals in Dubai.
Momota and Okuhara took home US$80,000 (RM346,200) each – making it their biggest-ever career payouts.
Japan had never won the singles events in the Finals since its inception in 2008.
They’ve only won the women’s doubles title, through Misaki Matsutomoto-Ayaka Takahashi in Dubai last year.
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