After two consecutive losses the world no. 1 Kento Momota finally cracked the code and beat world no. 9 Anthony Ginting. Tuesday’s match between Ginting and Momota at DANISA DENMARK OPEN 2018 presented by VICTOR had been highly anticipated and one to watch.
Even though the Danish matches were finished, big parts of the crowd stayed to enjoy the thrill of Anthony Ginting vs. Kento Momota - and especially the Indonesian crowd were still audible.
- I’m so happy since I’m very far from home in Europe, I feel like I have friends that supports me, said Anthony Ginting about the encouragement.
The two players’ previous meetings brought extra intensity to the match that might as well could have been the final. From the start both players kept the tension high as they followed each other closely in the beginning of the first game.
With the lead in first game Momota got ahead by 11-7 and took off after the break. Ginting fought his way back and was able to close in on Momota. However, after a few long rallies Momota closed the game with the score 21-18.
In the second game, both players followed each other on the scoreboard, and the rallies were fierce. The intensity outside of the rallies weren’t as palpable - the players were quiet and fully focused. At breaktime Momota was up by 11-9.
After the break the players kept the pace high with skill-full footwork and well-played shots. Momota widened the gap in the score with 15-10 and the players pressured each other to brutal positions and generally made few faults. Ginting hauled in on Momota to make the score 18-18.
These two didn’t want the excitement to end. At 59 minutes of play Ginting secured the second game with the score 23-21.
In the third game, none of the players gave up the initiative and followed each other all the way to 8-8. At breaktime, Momota was in the lead with the score 11-8. It seemed as if the players realized that the end of the match was near, as they began to show charisma and yelling in between points to control the mental game as well.
With fast footwork, excellent defensive shots and counterplay Momota showed why he is world no. 1 at the moment. He took off and won the closing game 21-15 after 87 minutes of play.
- There is no significant difference from the previous matches if only I could have led from the first game, I think I would have had a better chance to win the match, said Anthony Ginting.