Former World No. 1 Kento Momota retires from badminton at age 29

Kento Momota, a two-time world champion, said on Thursday that he is retiring from competitive badminton at the age of 29, acknowledging that he has not been the same after suffering a terrible automobile accident four years before.

After winning 11 championships and only losing six of his 73 matches in 2019, Japan’s Momota was once the indisputable champion of badminton.

However, the car that was driving him to the airport in Kuala Lumpur in January 2020 broke down a few hours after he had won the Malaysia Masters.

In addition to needing surgery to fix a damaged eye socket, the driver was slain.

Momota struggled from double vision upon his return after a year away from competition, and although he did win two additional championships, he was unable to replicate his brilliant form that had propelled him to the top of the global rankings.

Momota told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday, “I would be lying if I said I didn’t ask myself, ‘Why me?'” at the moment of the disaster.

Momota, who is now ranked 52 and was not selected for the Olympics in Paris, will retire from the Japanese national team after competing in the Thomas Cup in China later this month.

After that, he won’t participate in the badminton World Tour; instead, he will only compete in Japanese domestic events.

“After that car accident, there were a lot of difficult times,” Momota said.

Through trial and error, I attempted to revert to my previous playing style, but there was a disconnect between my emotions and my body.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to a level where I was competing with the best in the world,” the speaker said.

“A great deal of difficulty”

During his 45-minute press appearance, Momota, who was beaming widely the whole time but sometimes paused to find the proper words, said he had “no regrets” about retiring from professional badminton.

He expressed his desire to see badminton grow in Japan and thanked the players for supporting him at his lowest point.

“I didn’t want to blame the hard times on the accident, but there was a lot of hardship and it wore me down,” he said.

“I wanted to get over it, and with the help of those around me, I was at least able to gain some momentum.”

Momota had his sights set on the Olympics in Paris this summer, but his country’s rating did not allow him to be selected for Japan’s squad.

He was disqualified from the 2016 Rio Olympics selection process due to his involvement with an illicit casino.

He was shocked to lose in the first round of the 2021 Tokyo Games, calling it “nothing but a frustrating memory.”

“It was a good experience in that sense; I don’t think I was fully prepared for it, but I had dreamed of playing at the Olympics for a long time,” he remarked.

When the Japanese team enters the court in Paris for the Olympics, Momota advised his teammates to learn from his errors and maintain composure.

He remarked, “I really felt how difficult it was to do the things you normally do. Give it your all so that you have no regrets, and don’t think about the result.”