Kento and Okuhara lead Japan into two semis

Winning point: Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara returns a shot to Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi during their women’s singles quarter-final match. — AP

TWO-TIME world champion Kento Momota and Nozomi Okuhara came alive in the quarter-finals to lead Japan to the semi-finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals respectively.

Momota finally defeated a top 10 player after a long drought, beating world No. 4 Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-13 in 51 minutes to give Japan the first point against Taiwan.