JAKARTA, Jan 27 — Danish player Anders Antonsen won his first ever Indonesia Masters after defeating world number one Kento Momota of Japan today to claim the 2019 title.
Antonsen, who was not accompanied by his coach, reached the final of the championship for the first time and managed to upset Momota 21-16, 14-21 and 21-16 in a game that lasted one hour and 19 minutes.
“It’s amazing to think that I started playing badminton when I was (a) six-year-old and I’ve always been dreaming about winning one of these titles, so it’s crazy that I’m finally here,” Antonsen told reporters after the historic win.
“I’ve finally done it, I can’t even describe how good it feels,” the 21-year-old shuttler said.
Antonsen breezed to the final after defeating home’s favourite and Asian Games gold medallist Jonatan Christie on Friday.
Momota admitted the Dane had been playing extremely well since the beginning of the tournament.
“Antonsen’s attacks were better and his defense was stronger today,” Momota said through an interpreter.
In the men’s double, world number one doubles pair Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo also won the final after upsetting fellow Indonesian duo Muhammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan with 21-17 and 21-11.
“It was a pretty exciting game, it started off quite fast, we had to be ready... could not afford to make mistakes,” Gideon said after the win.
In the women’s double, Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan clinched the title after defeated South Korean pair Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong 21-19, 21-15 in 40 minutes.
Indian ace shuttler Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal claimed the BWF title in the women’s singles after former world champion Carolina Marin bowed out of the competition 10 minutes after the game started because of knee injury.
In the mixed doubles,the first-seeded duo Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China claimed the title after defeating the country’s favourite team Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir with 21-19, 19-21 and 16-21.
This was Natsir’s last competition before she retires, and the 33-year-old Olympic gold medallist waved goodbye amid cheers and applause from her fans. — AFP
