Kento Momota (桃田賢斗) - Future No. 1 Player in the World

[zimmerman]

Yes, I'm calling this now. Kento Momota, recently crowned Junior World Champion, will become world no. 1 in the future. Having watched his matches, I was really impressed with this player and I've only just seen him play.

Why do I think he will become no. 1 in the world? Because I think he has the qualities of both Taufik Hidayat and Lin Dan. It's obvious from the way he plays that he looks up to Taufik, similar to the much-hyped Kenichi Tago. But in my opinion, while Tago is not a bad player and has a stylish game, he does not have even half the talent that Momota has (and Taufik and somewhat Lin Dan). He has the relaxed style of Taufik, but can be explosive and deceptive with his left-handedness like Lin Dan.

What could prevent this? While the rise of other players in his generation is probably a huge threat, from what I saw in his games the thing that could thwart becoming one of the best is his attitude. While his style of play is something like a hybrid of Taufik/Lin Dan, it seems he also has inherited a combination of their attitudes. It seems he has that silent cockiness that Taufik exudes and the sometimes volatile attitude of Lin Dan. At times it seems he doesn't try hard enough (Taufik), at times he can't believe that his opponent won the point (Lin Dan), and even lazy (Taufik).

All of this could slow his development, but I think he has the potential to be the best, it looks like he believes he could be the best, and I believe he will reach that potential. Looking forward to see how it develops.

[pcll99]

good player..

[Justin L]

Also don't forget his worthy opponent in the WJC, Xue Song, who lost to him narrowly, 21-17,19-21 and 21-19. In fact, in G3, Xue Song was ahead most of the time until 19-17 before Momota took the next four points to win the match and title.

[george@chongwei]

Japanese version of Lin dan!

[Jagdpanther]

Also don't forget his worthy opponent in the WJC, Xue Song, who lost to him narrowly, 21-17,19-21 and 21-19. In fact, in G3, Xue Song was ahead most of the time until 19-17 before Momota took the next four points to win the match and title.

This is the thread for Kento Momota. If you don't want people to forget his future rival, feel free to create one. Thank you very much.

[Giga01]

What are his results vs other Japanese players? I've only seen him lose to Tago, what about his results vs Sho Sasaki and the like, where does he rank in Japan? Considering Japan is not as strong as China, any chance of him playing in senior-team events soon?

[madara]

Momota and Sasaki, They have never played as regular game yet .(probably)
His ranking is No9 in Japan now.
http://www.badminton.or.jp/ranking/2...20121104ms.pdf




2011 The all-Japan Badminton Championships 2011/12/6-11
http://www.badminton.or.jp/2011/alljapan/20111211.pdf


R64
VS池田雄一（日本ユニシス）
Yuichi Ikeda (Nihon Unisys)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBrLiEeDuS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoggIkJUGdo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9dGsfLSGYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQuO4BBBL3A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx-BItQWFmc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgwS_TerX5s
22-20
17-21
21-13


R32
VS竹村純（JR北海道）
Jun Takemura (Japan Line Hokkaido)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_FHdk29LOQ
18-21
21-16
21-13


QF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy_VDXwCR5Q
VS田児賢一（NTT東日本）
Kenichi Tago (NTT East Japan)
9-21
17-21


Now, next All-Japan Badminton Championships will be held for 2012/12/3-9.


My expectations
Sasaki 2-1 Tago
Sasaki 2-1 Momota
Tago 2-0 Ueda

[zimmerman]

He lost in the first round of the China Open to No. 13 in the world Yun Hu 21-17, 18-21, 21-18. Great result for him despite being up in the 3rd game and losing out in the end. I hope he will play more tournaments to increase his rank and experience.

[demolidor]

BWF World Junior Championships 2012 for EYE - Level Cups
QF: Kento MOMOTA(Japan) VS Teck Zhi SOO(Malaysia)

[demolidor]

BWF World Junior Championships 2012 for EYE - Level Cups
Kento MOMOTA(Japan) VS Kwang Hee HEO(Korea) [Semifinal]

[Wingu]

Some general information on Momota.

Born 1st September 1994 in the city of Mitoyo, located in Kagawa prefecture. He is 174cm tall and weighs 68 kilograms.
He started playing badminton when he was in second grade in elementary school and when in the 6th grade he won the singles title at the All Japan Elementry School Championships. He then went to a junior high school in Fukuoka and during his third year he won the singles title at the All Japan Junior High Championships. After that he continued to Fukuoka High School, where he is currently playing and studying. In 2011 he won bronze at the World Junior Championships and at the end of the same year he became one of the remaining eight players in the All Japan Badminton Championships and earned himself a spot as a representative of Japan. He is to join NTT East in April 2013.

Records on the world stage so far:

2011 - World Junior Championships - Result: MS Remaining 4
2011 - International Challenege in Osaka - Result: MS Remaining 4
2012 - Asian U19 Championships - Results: As team 1st place, MS 1st place
2012 - Vietnam Open - Results: Remaining 8
2012 - World Junior Championships - Results: As team 2nd place, MS 1st place

[zimmerman]

Semifinals of Japan High School tournament. A really good first game where Momota fought off several game points before finally losing it 27-25. He ended up winning the last 2 games. Does anyone know if he won the whole tournament? It would be funny if he won the Junior World Championships after losing some Japanese high school tournament.

Some thoughts:

- He's a lot stronger than he looked at the last All Japan Badminton tournament last December where he lost to Tago in the QF. His fitness last year looked really bad, especially against Tago. I think he will reach at least SF this year.

- He's stronger, but he still needs more power and better fitness.

- He has some bad judgement quite a bit in this game in terms of leaving a shuttle to go out. Not sure if it's a problem or just in this game.

[demolidor]

23-25 ... and he did go on to win both boys singles and doubles

63rd National High School Championships to be exact:



(photo by Nippon Badminton Association)

[Wingu]

The QF from today of the All Japan (seen from Momota's side. There're also from Tago's side for those interested)

[SolsticeOfLight]

HD's not very useful when the camera can't focus ...

[zimmerman]

Eventually ended up losing to Kenichi Tago in the QF, 21-17 21-7. Worse scoreline than their match last year, but to me it's clear that Kento is already a better player. His skills are already at a higher level than Tago. But what lost him this match was unforced errors toward the end of the first game that cost him the game. By the second game he was already mentally defeated when he kept on making errors after errors. When he gets more experience playing in BWF tour and improves his mental game and consistency, I can see him quickly joining Tago and Sasaki as Japan's top trio and eventually overtake them in a year or two.

[zimmerman]