No Momota at the WC. Sorry, I only watched the last half of the third game, and by this stage Momota was almost relying totally on placing lobs to the corners of the court. He didn't look particularly engaged, and certainly not intent on actually earning points himself. He was simply waiting for Watanabe to make mistakes. Having said that, in his current state, Momota will not win anything that goes to three games; he simply does not have the stamina. Had he been lucky enough to clinch that final game, he certainly would not have made it through the following day. His fitness is questionable, ... as is his hunger to win.
I kinda wished he will be playing in the world championship although he might lose early again. Did he not qualify or was he juz not selected?
I think he did not qualify for the coming WC. His last tour win was in 2021, and his best showing since then was a runner-up finish in Malaysia 2022. Beside that, its almost first round exits in every tour he played.
A youtuber documentary on Momota, showing his beginning, witnessing his hometown wrecked by the 2011 earthquake, early career, being banned from Rio16, comeback, WCx2, accident, loss in Tokyo20, and his performance since then. Some noteworthy words from him.. 2:30 : "As time passes, people will forget the existence of my high school. I will not let this happened. As long as I am active on the circuit, people will know my school when they want to know when and where I started playing badminton". 3:23 : After winning the junior WC, "My target is to win an Olympic medal". Interviewer "What color?". His reply :"Gold". 10:45 : Interview after his accident. "Looking infront, there is no problem. but when I look up, it seems like there are 2 shuttles flying over.". 11:28 : "I want to play in the Olympics" (i thought i'm looking at Huang Dong Ping, China xd female player ) 14:15 : After his loss in Tokyo20, "I'm sorry. since the accident, a lot of things happened. With support and encouragement from many people, I can return and play again. I feel this is the one of most beautiful experience in my life. thanks to you, I can be here now." 15:19 : After his win in Japan National Championship, "There are many sayings on the internet. The old momota is not coming back. Momota's era is over. Although I understand, I'm not thinking of calling it a day. i still want to show what I can do. Please don't be negative, and give me your warmest support. 16:07 : What does badminton mean to you? "I hope I can give (or inspire) the kids a dream.".
I saw him listed for the Hong Kong Open this week but at the end, he won't play. Something happend to him?
To sum it up: The accident and the subsequent medical problems were damaging and caused him to lose form. He did recover from that and mounted a promising and successful comeback in autumn of 2021. However, the overwork during that period resulted in a back injury (or aggravated an existing condition) that basically ended his career at the age of 27.
Nice summary. It is all so sad. What makes it worse is that it could have been averted, I believe, by better management. The coaches are lucky that Naraoka is around to distract everyone.
Apart from missing an Olympic medal, he has achieved a lot. Now, stay healthy and do what he like. Continuing playing (even Son Wan Ho is playing) at a lower tier, become a coach, open an academy. He still can contribute to Japanese Badminton.
It is horrible for Momota. He's the best player of this generation by far, but likely will never be able to show it again due to mismanagement. I find it frustrating to watch him these days, but it is admirable how he keeps up appearances in spite of the tragedy that his career (and life) has become. As for the coaches and federation? Imagine having the best player your country has ever seen (by some distance). He presents a unique opportunity to make the sport that pays your bills way more popular. And what do you do with that player? First, you suspend him for two years, of course. After that, you grind him to dust within the next four years, leaving him unable to play at 27. It is crazy how someone could be so bad at their job, yet still continue working. What bothers me most about this, is the difference in consequences: Momota faced the harshest consequences for something he did in private, is now virtually unable to earn a livelihood the way he did before, has a chronic medical condition and probably a high risk of depression. The people responsible, however, can go on with their day jobs as if they had no part in that at all.
You find it frustrating to watch Momota? I can't bear to see him play at all. It's torture. It's a total botch-up, isn't it. NBA strongman Zeniya has gone at long last, but I really don't know how PJB has managed to retain his head-coach post for 19 years!! (Totally unheard of in other sports.) I think that we may have something in common with Tago of all souls. He, too, has been critical of the post-accident treatment afforded to Momota.
Remember previously NBA had some financial irregularities. What happened with the people responsible? Did they have to resign?
There have been resignations at the executive board level for a spate of funding misappropriations. But serious issues in the selection, management and coaching of national players remain.
Im interested to know what tago said? I know he has a youtube but without subs i cant really watch anything.
It’s for sure very unfortunate, but I don’t see how these events are necessarily linked in a way that someone is out there to destroy KM. Especially PJB, I think he has been doing a solid job all along. Please consider that PJB has to work under the system, in a way he has to play with the cards that are dealt to him.
