<p class="title">Kento Momota defeated first seed Viktor Axelsen to secure a Japan Open final berth on Saturday, with the reigning world champion dominating an aggressive game 21-18, 21-11.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota's victory over the 24-year-old Danish giant will see him square off on Sunday against Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab, who beat South Korea's Lee Dong Keun 21-12, 21-16.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It was really tough to endure a long rally while paying attention to sharp shots from Axelsen," Momota told TV Asahi after the match.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think I could win because I was able to chase the shuttlecock aggressively until the last minute," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota last month became the first Japanese man to win the badminton World Championships, putting behind him a gambling scandal that threatened to ruin his career.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 24-year-old was engulfed by controversy in 2016 when Japanese badminton chiefs suspended him for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino, denying him a place at the Rio Olympics.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota, number two in the world at the time, has been working his way back to the top ever since.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In women's singles, Olympic champion Carolina Marin sent China's Chen Yufei packing after beating the world number five 21-12, 21-13.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Spaniard became the first woman to win three badminton world titles after an emphatic victory over PV Sindhu of India in Nanjing last month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The all-action 25-year-old added the 2018 crown to her 2014 and 2015 titles, as well as the Olympic gold she won over the unlucky Sindhu at Rio 2016.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Marin will face on Sunday Japan's 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara, 23, who beat Aya Ohori also from Japan 21-12, 21-12.</p>
<p class="title">Kento Momota defeated first seed Viktor Axelsen to secure a Japan Open final berth on Saturday, with the reigning world champion dominating an aggressive game 21-18, 21-11.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota's victory over the 24-year-old Danish giant will see him square off on Sunday against Thailand's Khosit Phetpradab, who beat South Korea's Lee Dong Keun 21-12, 21-16.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It was really tough to endure a long rally while paying attention to sharp shots from Axelsen," Momota told TV Asahi after the match.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think I could win because I was able to chase the shuttlecock aggressively until the last minute," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota last month became the first Japanese man to win the badminton World Championships, putting behind him a gambling scandal that threatened to ruin his career.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 24-year-old was engulfed by controversy in 2016 when Japanese badminton chiefs suspended him for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino, denying him a place at the Rio Olympics.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Momota, number two in the world at the time, has been working his way back to the top ever since.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In women's singles, Olympic champion Carolina Marin sent China's Chen Yufei packing after beating the world number five 21-12, 21-13.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Spaniard became the first woman to win three badminton world titles after an emphatic victory over PV Sindhu of India in Nanjing last month.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The all-action 25-year-old added the 2018 crown to her 2014 and 2015 titles, as well as the Olympic gold she won over the unlucky Sindhu at Rio 2016.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Marin will face on Sunday Japan's 2017 world champion Nozomi Okuhara, 23, who beat Aya Ohori also from Japan 21-12, 21-12.</p>