Japan Survive Sudirman Cup Scare After Kento Momota Gamble Backfires

Japan gambled by resting top-ranked Kento Momota and nearly paid the price, suffering a huge scare before battling back to beat Russia 3-2 in their Sudirman Cup opener on Monday. Top-seeded Japan are bidding to win the mixed-team world championships for the first time, but a major shock was on the cards when they went 2-1 down. The unfancied Russians enjoyed surprise victories in the men's singles and men's doubles, before the Japanese fought back in the Chinese city of Nanning.

Japan, who along with the hosts are the favourites, rested world champion Momota along with their first-choice men's pairing.

They were initially unaffected and won the mixed doubles in the opening rubber.

But Russia then took advantage of Japan's weakened side with Vladimir Malkov, ranked 62, beating Momota's replacement Kenta Nishimoto -- 10th in the world -- and also winning the men's doubles.