Japanese cinch 3 medals in BWF World Championships
This desk had had no idea Japan was that much outstanding in the game of badminton till a report arrived from Jakarta, Indonesia, August 12, that Japanese boys and girls had cinched 3 medals in BWF (Badminton World Federation) 22th World Championships as of August 12.
Kento Momota (NTT West Japan) beat Wei Nan of Hong Kong 21-6, 21-14 to reach quarterfinal in men's singles. In men's doubles, Hiroyuki Hayakawa and Ken-ichi Endo (Japan Unisis) downed Indonesia's Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi 21-17, 14-21, 21-18 and in women's doubles Naoko Fukuman and Kurumi Yonao (Saishukan) overwhelmed Jwala Gutta and Ashwimi Ponnappa of India 25-23, 21-14 to cinch their medals. Since third-place playoffs are not played, the Japanese boys and girls have cinched uinprecidented three medals already by August 12.
"This is my first medal ever, and I'm damned happy. It was lucky that I had little trouble winning the first game. I know my next will be tough, and I know I have to do my very best", said Momota, looking back his crucial game.
Kurumi Yonao said, "I knew I was shrinking a bit in the middle of the first game, but I somehow got through. I'm happy, yes, but the tournament is going on and I can't settle for what I've this far."
Noko Fukuman said he had outplayed herself and added, "The first game was really tough to win, but we made it by effectively receving the opponents' tough strokes. I've never though I could come this far up. I'm very happy."
In the current world rankings, Momoto ranks fourth in men's singles after Chen Long of China, Jan O. Jorgensen of Denmark and K. Srikanth of India. In team rankings, Japan is second after China followed by South Korea.
