Badminton World Championships 2019: Kento Momota, PV Sindhu Crowned Champions
August 25, 2019
Japan's Kento Momota and India's PV Sindhu put together dominant performances during Sunday's 2019 Badminton World Championships, winning the men's and women's tournament, respectively.
Sindhu became India's first ever world champion by beating Nozomi Okuhara in a rematch of the 2017 final. She also set a record for fewest points conceded in a final with just 14, but Momota immediately bettered the mark:
Last year's champion fell behind early against Anders Antonsen, but once he found his groove, he blew the Dane out of the water.
Here are the results from Sunday's finals:
Men's Singles: Kento Momota beats Anders Antonsen: 21-9, 21-3
Women's Singles: PV Sindhu beats Nozomo Okuhara: 21-7, 21-7
Men's Doubles: Mohammad Ahsan, Hendra Setiawan beat Takuro Hoki, Yugo Kobayashi: 25-23, 9-21, 21-15
Women's Doubles: Mayu Matsumoto, Wakana Nagahara beat Yuki Fukushima, Sayaka Hirota: 21-11, 20-22, 23-21
Mixed Doubles: Zheng Siwei, Huang Yaqiong beat Dechapol Puavaranukroh, Sapsiree Taerattanachai: 21-8, 21-12
Momota became just the fourth man in history to retain his title on Sunday, and he did so in emphatic fashion:
Underdog Antonsen came out with intensity, winning six of the first eight points in the match with some aggressive, attacking play. Momota quickly adjusted, however, using his technical mastery to make the difference in the rallies.
In no time, he turned the deficit into a massive lead, winning the first game easily.
The second game turned into a complete demolition, with Momota punishing every single mistake and Antonsen making plenty. The final point highlighted his class, as he dove to save an Antonsen smash, and the shuttle dropped to hand him the win.
The 24-year-old needed just 38 minutes to secure the gold, but Sindhu finished even quicker, winning her maiden title in 37 minutes:
Okuhara beat her to the gold in a thriller in 2017, but was decisively second-best in Basel on Sunday. Sindhu's raw power was too much to handle for the Japanese, who is known as a standout defender but couldn't move fast enough in the final.
Sindhu previously won two silver and two bronze medals in the World Championships, as well as silver in the 2016 Summer Olympics. While it took her some time to finally take the next step and win a big tournament, she did so in style against Okuhara.
China's horror tournament may have yielded just a single gold medal in the mixed doubles, but they did maintain their streak of winning at least one world title in every tournament since 1983.