MOMOTA HOLDS THE ACES – MEN’S SINGLES: PREVIEW
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2019
TEXT BY DEV SUKUMAR | BADMINTONPHOTO
年终赛男单前瞻：桃田手握王牌
The season finale is set to begin, and most of the attention in men’s singles i
s likely to be focussed on Kento Momota.
年终赛即将开幕，男单大部分的焦点可能都放在桃田身上。
The world No.1 swept nearly everything in his wake, and will head in to the HSBC
BWF World Tour Finals 2019 as the runaway favourite.
这位世界第一几乎横扫一切之后，以大获成功的热门夺冠者前进年终赛。
There are few titles left for Momota to conquer. The season finale is not one of
those, for he has won this event previously – in its avatar as the Dubai World
Superseries Finals in 2015. Yet, the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals does hold a spe
cial challenge for him, for it was at this event last year, at the end of a seas
on which he dominated, that he was ruthlessly cut down by Shi Yu Qi.
桃田今年尚未征服的头衔只有少许。年终赛冠军并非其中一个，他之前就已经拿过了。2015
年他以天降神兵之姿拿了杜拜年终赛冠军。不过，广州年终赛对他而言肯定是个特别的挑战
，因为去年他以宰制赛季的成绩参赛，却遭石宇奇狠狠地击败。
In an extraordinary display, Shi blitzed Momota 21-12 21-11 in the final, handin
g him his worst defeat all year. It is an anomaly he will look to redeem, even t
hough Shi himself has not qualified to the Finals.
在这场非凡的比赛中，石宇奇在决赛以大比分21-12、21-11击溃桃田，使他获得少有的惨败
。即便今年石宇奇未能获得资格参赛，他仍寻求补救。
“I really want to win this year. I want to be the champion and I’ll do my best
,” said Momota.
“我今年真的很想夺冠。我会为了夺冠尽我所能。”桃田说。
“Last year I was lucky to be drawn in an easy group and that helped me reach th
e final. I’m not sure what is going to happen this year, but I’m looking forwa
rd to it. The HSBC BWF World Tour Finals has a different feel from other tournam
ents.”
“去年我比较幸运，被分到比较轻松好打的组别助我进了决赛。我不知道今年是不是能这么
走运，但我还是期待着。年终赛跟其他比赛相比，有种不同的感受。”
While it was Momota’s year without a doubt, there were other players who shone
from time to time. Chou Tien Chen picked up the only Super 1000 that didn’t go
Momota’s way, when he prevailed in a marathon final over Anders Antonsen at the
Indonesia Open.
虽然今年无疑是属于桃田的赛季，但还有其他球员不时发光发热。周天成拿了桃田唯一没拿
到的1000赛冠军，他在印尼公开赛决赛以马拉松的打法拖垮安东森。
Two weeks later, he was on top of the podium at the Thailand Open, after yet ano
ther thrilling final.
两周后，他再一次在泰国公开赛站上颁奖台，这又是一次激励人心的决赛。
Chou acknowledged the peculiar challenges of playing the year-end tournament:
周认为打年终赛是个特别的挑战：
“It’s the end of the season so we’ll all be quite tired. Only the elite eight
can participate in the season-ending championships. Every opponent will be stro
ng and I’ll have to be fully focused. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll have upc
oming group matches. This is something that I have to be mentally prepared for.
”
“季末大家都相当累了。只有最菁英的八位才能参加年终赛。每个对手都很强而我必须全神
贯注。无论结果如何，我都要先打小组赛。我必须对此做好心理准备。”
Talking about his victory in Indonesia, Chou recalled that the key was his menta
l approach.
谈到印尼赛的胜利，周回忆那场比赛的关键是他的思考方式。
“I didn’t expect to reach the final let alone win the title. I had the right m
entality then, I was unaffected by whether I was winning or losing. It wasn’t a
bout boosting my confidence from winning the title. I was just glad that I had t
he right mentality and could adapt to any circumstances. This was something I ne
eded to mature in my game, so the win definitely helped me a lot.”
“我其实没想过进决赛，更不用说夺冠了。我有正确的心态，故能不被输赢所动。夺冠并不
是让我的自信膨胀。我很高兴我拥有正确的心态，故能适应场上任何情况。这是我在比赛中
需要培养成熟的东西，胜利对我来说当然帮助很大。”
If he gets into his groove, the Chinese Taipei star has the weapons to go all th
e way.
这果这位球星陷入困境，他应会有一套应付所有状况的武器。
There are two Danes among the qualifiers – Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen.
Axelsen had a season affected by allergies and a back injury that kept him out o
f several big tournaments including the World Championships, but he did make a p
romising return with semifinals in Denmark and France.
另外还有两位丹麦球员符合参赛资格，是安赛龙与安东森。安赛龙被过敏跟背伤困扰了整个
赛季，连数个大赛跟世锦赛都未能参加。不过他在丹麦法国进入四强，可望回复一些状态。
Antonsen had his breakthrough year, winning the Indonesia Masters and making the
final of the World Championships. The big-match player will sense his chance in
Guangzhou.
今年是安东森突破性的一年，他拿了印尼公开赛而且进入世锦决赛。这位大赛选手感到他在
广州有机会。
Both Indonesians – Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting – had a fairly encoura
ging season. Ginting was in four finals but without a title, while Christie pick
ed up titles in Australia and New Zealand before falling short in finals in Japa
n and France.
两位印尼男单乔纳坦、金廷，也有一个令人鼓舞的赛季。金廷四进决赛但未获一冠；乔纳坦
则在纽澳两站夺冠，但在法国日本两站决赛却未能如愿。
Meanwhile, Chen Long, twice winner of the season-ending tournament (2012 and 201
4), will count on his experience and his recent form – he won the French Open a
nd was runner-up in Denmark the previous week – to pose questions of his younge
r rivals.
同时，谌龙这位曾二获年终赛冠军的球员，将倚仗自己的经验与近期状态参赛（前几周拿了
法国冠军与丹麦亚军），将为年轻的对手们造成障碍。
Of the eight qualifiers, the underdog will be Wang Tzu Wei. Interestingly, he wo
n his first World Tour title at his last event – the Syed Modi Championships –
and will hope to spring a surprise or two against the bigger names.
在这八位参赛者中，王子维是最不被看好的一位。有意思的是，他最近刚得巡回赛的第一个
冠军，或许会对这些大球星造成惊奇。
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the-aces-mens-singles-preview/