KUALA LUMPUR: World number seven Kodai Naraoka (pix) is one step away from becoming the first Japanese to win the men’s singles title at the Malaysia Open badminton championships here.
But, to do that, the 21-year old will have to dethrone current world number one Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the Super 1000 tournament final at the Axiata Arena tomorrow.
Naraoka, the 2018 Youth Olympic bronze medallist, played one of the longest badminton matches in history when he took 113 minutes (1 hour and 53 minutes) to edge Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-17, 19-21, 21-17 in the semi-final dubbed ‘The Battle of Rising Stars’ today.
For the record, the longest badminton match ever played was the 2016 Badminton Asia Championships women’s doubles semi-finals between Japan’s Kurumi Yonao-Naoko Fukuman and Greysia Polii-Nitya Krishinda Maheswari of Indonesia that lasted 161 minutes.
Meanwhile, the longest men’s singles tie saw Denmark’s Peter Rasmussen beat China’s Sun Jun in the final of the 1997 World Championships in Glasgow that lasted 124 minutes.
The semi-finals clash between Naraoka and Kunlavut today was a closely-fought tie but the Japanese again emerged victorious - despite it being his fourth consecutive rubber game in the tournament.
He had previously eliminated home favourites Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong in the first and second rounds respectively before ousting HS Prannoy of India in yesterday’s quarter-finals, with all the matches going into rubber games for a total of 362 minutes spent on court.
“It’s not my strategy to play long matches, but I keep playing (fighting till the end) because I really want to win. Eating a lot of rice and meat and having a good rest for recovery have helped me to keep fit for these long battles.
“Recently (throughout 2022), no Japanese player has beaten Axelsen. To be honest, I’d like to win, but I am sure it will be a tough match,” he said.
Axelsen has won all three matches against Naraoka, although Japanese almost stunned the Dane in their last meeting before losing 23-21, 19-21, 18-21 in an epic 83-minute semi-final battle in the World Tour Finals last month.
Meanwhile, Axelsen oozed class as he overpowered another Japanese shuttler - Kanta Tsuneyama - 21-7, 21-15 in just 46 minutes in the other semi-final.
“I feel pretty comfortable and good. He stepped up in the second game. I probably moved back too much, but I found my rhythm again and I am satisfied with my win.
“I am expecting a tough match (against Naraoka). The last time we played, it was very close and I am preparing for another tough one tomorrow,” Axelsen said.
Former Japanese world number one Kento Momota came close to winning the Malaysia Open title twice before being denied by local ace Datuk Lee Chong Wei in 2018 and Axelsen in 2022. - Bernama
