Kento Momota Accident: Will He Return To The Top?

The 27-year-old former two-time world champion, involved in a gambling incident earlier in his career, now faces serious concerns about his ability to return to the top.

After winning the Malaysia Masters in January 2020, Momota’s life was flipped upside down when the Kento Momota accident occurred.

The vehicle at the airport crashed, leaving him with a damaged eye socket and the driver dead.

A left-handed ace flopped at the Tokyo Olympics and has been eliminated in the first round of four of the five singles competitions he has played this year after sitting out for an entire year.

“His defense is still a bit dubious, his net game isn’t as strong as it used to be, and then of course. His self-confidence must have taken a big, big hit,” said the former coach of the Danish national team, Steen Schleicher Pedersen, to AFP.

An accident where the other driver perished must have had an enormous impact on Momota.

A badminton analyst, Pedersen, speculated that the experience had altered the former player.

According to Pedersen, Momota’s vision problems impacted his performance last season, particularly on defense.

Momota set a new record by winning 11 tournaments in 2019, losing only six of his 73 matches.

He looked every bit the part of a future great.

The subsequent accident caused him to suffer from double vision and necessitated the removal of a bone close to his eye.

Kento Momota makes a comeback after recovery

Momota returned to training at the beginning of February.

Still, an eye socket fracture had rendered him legally blind and prevented him from competing at the All England Open in Birmingham in March.

Momota has fully recovered from his operation and is again pursuing his goals.

He returned to training with his team (NTT East) on February 29 and is overjoyed that his eyesight is as excellent as before.

“I have never gone that long without playing badminton before. The fun of smashing shuttlecocks has me completely engrossed,” said Kento Momota.

He stated that “My practices have gone back to being extremely rewarding.”

His mobility and strength are slowly returning to him.

He added, “I have the sensation that the sharpness in my body and motions is gradually returning to normal.”

Kento Momota speaks about his health

Momota, a home-team favorite who faltered in the first round of the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, appeared to return to his best form when he went undefeated to win the Indonesia Masters in November.

Since the new year, he has been unable to find much success due to a back injury that prevented him from competing in the World Tour Finals and world championships the following month.

Pedersen claims that because the mysterious Momota has spoken so little about his health, observers from the outside must rely on “guesswork.”

Has he had enough time to get in plenty of practice this season? He speculated that the player’s restricted playing time could be to blame.

If he has put in full effort from the first of the year until now, hitting the gym and practicing badminton as often as he has to, and this is the result, then it’s likely that he has exhausted all possible avenues of improvement.

Even though Momota is currently rated second in the world, the coronavirus pandemic has distorted the scoring system, and he is projected to fall until a more accurate picture emerges later this year.

He told Japanese reporters in April that he was only trying “to do all I can at this moment,” which did not inspire confidence.

I get down when I read things like ‘he’s not playing well’ or ‘the old Momota doesn’t exist anymore,’ but I’m trying not to dwell on it too much,’ he said.

Momota lost in the first round of the Indonesia Open to Rasmus Gemke of Denmark, ranked thirteenth in the world.

After the race, he blamed himself for making “so many mistakes” and claimed he “didn’t have the stamina” to keep up.

To be a factor at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Momota will need to repeat his previous comeback successes.

Japan’s 2016 Olympic team in Rio kicked Momota out due to his involvement with an unlicensed casino.

As he tried to work his way back up the rankings after being banned, he competed in lesser events worldwide, where he went on a winning streak that eventually propelled him to the top.

Pedersen thinks that Momota “definitely needs to start winning” and that playing frequently “gives you confidence, it gives you touch, it gives you accuracy.”

“He needs to do good practice, and then he needs to start winning matches — a lot of matches,” he remarked.