World Badminton Championships 2018, Men's Singles, Quarterfinal: Sai Praneeth vs Kento Momota, Live Match Updates

Momota def Praneeth 21-12, 21-12 to enter semi-finals

Updated: 03 August 2018 20:16 IST - Published: 03 August 2018 16:34 IST

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Momota was brilliant. Sai tried hard but was left with no option.

That's the end of Sai's campaign.

Momota converts his first match point!

Momota def Praneeth 21-12, 21-12

Smash and match points galore!

19-12 after a tight spinning net shot

And now it is 18-12 for Momota

Momota sends a lob with pitch perfect placement.

16-12

Sai rushed to the net to finish the point but got blocked by the net.

Momota up 15-11

A little spark from the Indian here.

He gets a couple of points and trails 10-14

Momota knows how to efficiently alternate between power and soft touch.

Sai is having trouble reading his shots.

Momota up 13-8

So much elevation and power into his shots right now!

Momota has regained complete control of the game right after that. At the interval, it is 11-7 to Momota

And Sai has levelled after giving up the initial lead.

6-6

A lot more aggression and pace from the Indian here. That has helped him to be on the heels of Momota at 5-6.

And the Japanese has surged into the lead, as expected.

It's 5-3 to Momota after four consecutive points.

Can he really stage a comeback here?

Jump smash by Sai and he goes up to 3-1

Sai makes a positive start to the second game and leads 2-0

First game to Momota at 21-12

Momota rebounds and gets game points galore.

20-12

A couple more errors again from Momota.

Sai is now 11-19

Momota hits a rare error as the shuttle goes long.19-9

Momota's anticipation skills are underrated. Those help him to be everywhere on the court and tackle his opponent.

This is complete demolition job being executed to perfection by the Japanese!

19-7

Just look how he manages to scramble on the court and regain his balance, and yet to manages to come up with a winning shot!

Momota up 17-6

Lucky net cord for Momota!

Even the net is favouring him as if he needed more help!

Momota up 16-6

And the Japanese quickly stops Sai's mini momentum to get 2 points on the trot.

He is up 14-6

Great angle to attack the Momota lefty forehand.

Sai still trails 6-12

It's 11-5 to the Japanese going into the midgame interval.

Sai could add just one more point after that as the Japanese has now raced to 9-4

A bit better from Sai here as he is trying to keep errors at bay.

3-6

Sai showed some attacking intent to pull one back.

Trails 2-6

Sai is looking nervous and clueless as to how to tackle the Japanese.

Momota already has built a 4-1 lead here.

Combined with speed and precision, Momota is relentless with his defence and then sneaks in for a winner into the corner.

Momota is showing some incredible speed.

1-0 to Momota

Good evening!

The match is about to get under way!

Hello and Welcome to Sporstkeeda's LIVE coverage of the BWF World Championships. Next up is the quarterfinal match between Sai Praneeth and Kento Momota.

Sai Praneeth got a walkover in Round 1 and faced the Spanish player Luís Enrique in the Round 2 match, defeating him 21-18, 21-11. His next encounter was with Hans-Kristian Solberg (WR 23) and the Indian was again dominant, defeating his opponent 21-13, 21-11 comprehensively in straight sets.

6th seed Momota, on the other hand, defeated Artem Pochtarov 21-13, 21-12 in Round 1, Luka Wraber 21-8, 21-10 in Round 2, and 16th seed Anders 13-21, 21-17, 21-8 in Round 3.

Kento Momota has been in blistering form after winning the Asian Championships after defeating Chen Long in the final in Wuhan, China, earlier this year. The Japanese shuttler has had a meteoric rise in his rankings as well and will certainly give Praneeth a tough fight.

The 25-year-old Indian is currently ranked 26th in the world whereas Momota is placed at 7th.

Both the shuttlers have had exquisite campaigns in the run up to the quarterfinal match.

This is the first time that Sai Praneeth has made it to the Top 8 of the World Championships and he will also be looking to make the most of the opportunity. The upcoming match is sure to be a cracker. Stay tuned for some exciting updates.