NANJING, July 29 -- The top guns at the 2018 BWF World Championship met the press here on the eve of the beginning of the upcoming tournament. Despite his absence, Japanese star Kento Momota was the most frequently mentioned name, due to his spectacular performance in recent events.
"I don't feel good about playing him, to be honest," said World No.1 Viktor Axelsen. "He's been doing really well since he returned from the ban. I'm working hard, and I see it as a challenge. I hope to beat him the next time we play."
Last year, Axelsen defeated Chinese icon Lin Dan in the World Championship to become the first European player in 20 years to claim the trophy. But to defend his title, he had to get past several illustrious Chinese players, and above all, his 'nightmare' Momota.
The defending champion suffers a 1-8 head-to-head deficit against Momota, with the most recent defeat costing him the Indonesian Open championship earlier this month.
"I have to triumph every match before trying to figure out a way to defeat him," the World No.1 added.
Olympic champion Chen Long also spoke highly of the 23-year-old when asked if he looked forward to playing against Momota in the final.
"I think it's too early to talk about that," said Chen. "Momota has been in a really good form since the Asian Championships this year. He is one of the top players that give the steadiest performance on court."
Momota was banned by the Nippon Badminton Association in 2016 due to frequent gambling in an illegal casino and returned in the middle of 2017. Since then, he has quickly regained top form and rocketed to No.7 from nothing in the BWF world rankings.