Losing To Viktor Axelsen With A Striking Score In The Malaysia Open 2022 Final, Kento Momota: He's Too Great

Kento Momota. (Photo via Antara)

JAKARTA - Kento Momota had to settle for being runner-up at the Malaysia Open 2022. In the final which took place on Sunday, July 3, the Japanese player was beaten by Viktor Axelsen.

After the match, Kento Momota acknowledged his opponent's superiority. He considered, the first seed from Denmark was too great for him.

"He was too great today. I tried to match him step by step but he was too strong," said Momota quoted from the official BWF website.

In the final which was held at Axiata Arena, Malaysia, Momota lost two games straight to Axelsen. The score was very striking, namely 4-21 and 7-21.

With a landslide score, the second meeting was also the shortest match in the final that day because it lasted only 34 minutes.

Momota also admitted, Axelsen showed a tremendous improvement in his appearance when compared to previous meetings.

"He (Axelsen) has improved, his speed and his hitting quality have improved at various levels," said Momota.

When referring to the meeting record, Momota actually has a more dominant record than Axelsen. Even though Momota lost in the last tournament, his stats are still ahead of 14-3 in the meeting record against Axelsen.

But if you look at the performances in the two latest tournaments, Axelsen can actually beat Momota, including when he appeared at the Denmark Open 2021 last.