Kento Momota of Japan won men’s singles title at the 2016 Yonex-Sunrise India Open badminton championship. In the final match held at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi, he defended the title by defeating Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 21-15 21-18. Earlier, in an another match, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon won the women’s singles title by defeating Xuerui Li of China.
Winners of other titles
Men’s Doubles: Gideon Markus Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia
Women’s Doubles: Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi of Japan
Mixed Doubles: Kai Lu and Huang Yaqiong of China
Did You Know?
- The official game of Badminton was born in a stately home in Gloucestershire, England, home of the Duke of Beaufort.
- Badminton is the Fastest Racket Sport with shuttle clocking speed in excess of 200 mph.
- The best shuttlecocks are made from the feathers from the left wing of a goose.
- The International Badminton Federation (IBF) was founded in 1934 with nine members and now has over 150 members.
- The IBF is now headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Badminton was introduced into USA in the 1890s and became popular in the 1930s.
- Badminton is the second most popular sport in the world, after soccer.
- Badminton is an Olympic Sport played first in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
- More than 1.1 billion people watched the 1992 Olympic Badminton competition on television.
- Only 3 countries have won the Thomas Cup since it’s inception in 1948: Malaysia, Indonesia and China.
- Only 4 countries have won the Uber Cup since its inception in 1956: USA, Japan, China and Indonesia.