Defending champion and world number one Kento Momota battled past former number one Viktor Axelsen to reach the Fuzhou China Open semi-finals on Friday. The 25-year-old Japanese player, who is chasing a 10th title of 2019, suffered a second-game wobble before winning 21-18, 12-21, 21-16 in their quarter-final. Momota will play Axelsen’s fellow Dane Rasmus Gemke or Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long in the last four on Saturday. Victory for the all-action player, the reigning two-time world champion, was his 13th in 15 matches against Axelsen, now ranked sixth in the world.
