Badminton World Championships 2018: Japan's Kento Momota Wins Gold Medal

Japan's Kento Momota became the first-ever male Japanese player to win gold at the Badminton World Championships on Sunday, beating China's Shi Yuqi in the final.

As Badminton Talk shared, the 23-year-old put together a dominant outing:

In the women's final, Olympic champion Carolina Marin reclaimed her world title, winning her third gold medal. She was also the 2015 and 2016 champion and beat PV Sindhu in the final.

Momota had been among the top-form players all week, underlining his dominance with a routine win over Liew Daren in the semi-finals. Yuqi had to work his way past Olympic champion Chen Long, setting up a battle between two of the sport's top young talents in the final.

The 22-year-old Yuqi may have been the higher seed, but experience was on Momota's side. He made it to the semi-finals of this tournament in 2015, and with his win in the Asian Championships this year, 2018 has belonged to him.

Since his return from a gambling suspension, he has been on a tear:

The women's final was a repeat of the 2016 Olympic final, but this time Marin needed just two sets to get past Sindhu. After a close opening set, the 25-year-old shifted gears and crushed her opponent in the second, winning 21-19, 21-10.

She too made history with the win:

Marin has been the dominant force in European badminton for some time, but usually European players have a hard time translating that success on Asian soil. She has won two of her three medals in Indonesia and China, respectively, however, and has done all of that by the age of 25.

Sindhu is two years younger than her and still has ample room to grow as a player, and it would appear this rivalry is only just getting started.

Hosts China predictably took the gold medals in the men's and mixed doubles events, and in an all-Japanese final, the gold in the women's doubles went to Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara.

The tournament will return to Europe next year, with the Swiss city of Basel chosen to host.