Badminton: World No. 1 Momota to face Indonesian Anthony for 11th title of the year

Kento Momota of Japan hits a return during a men's singles match at the BWF World Tour Finals badminton tournament in Guangzhou, China, on Dec, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

SHANGHAI (AFP) - Kento Momota eased into the final of the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals on Saturday (Dec 14) as the peerless Japanese closes in on an 11th title of the year.

The world No. 1 swatted aside Taiwan's 19th-ranked Wang Tzu-wei 21-17, 21-12 in their semi-final which lasted 48 minutes in Guangzhou.

He will face Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who stunned reigning Olympic champion and home hope Chen Long 21-15, 21-15 in the last four.

The 25-year-old is enjoying a spectacular season, with the world championships, Asian championships and prestigious All England among his haul of tournament victories.

Momota will be hot favourite against Anthony, having defeated the Indonesian 10 times in 14 meetings.

In the women's final, Taiwan's top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying will face China's world No. 2 Chen Yufei.

Tai beat Nozomi Okuhara, 21-15, 21-18 in their semi-final while Chen defeated another Japanese, Akane Yamaguchi, 21-18, 21-9.

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