He didn't seem very superb when Lam pushed him a certain rallies. I don't feel the springyness in his legs from watching compared to SYQ and Ginting. I hope he is on top form Also I can't see when Will be his next match? Is it because he won already?
You are absolutely right. But if you look at the others then you will see that they seem more springy. Hey might be only in my mind though.
Momota will play Heo Kwang Hee next, he once beat LCW. Hopefully Heo will not be the next Ronald Susilo.
That's why i'm confused. I mean two days rest? Others are playing two consecutive days? I'm not sure how that works. Or maybe depending on how it goes tomorrow, the winner of the first match might not have to play? E.g. Loser of first match lose second match as well? Idk
His footwork has just disappeared. He may have become much better as a player, much smarter, much stronger, much more willed but that footwork, the magic of those million small steps while recovering to the base position and when streched to the extreme corners has gone, disappeared. The thing that I liked the most about him was his footwork. He looks a different player, completely.
I didn't watch the entire match, as I knew that Momota would not be particularly troubled by this player. From what I did see, I got the impression that Momota was testing and fine-tuning his shots, which is probably what he should be doing at this stage. Looking at him play yesterday, and also at the AE and AJC, I am slightly concerned about his touch at the net. Even Lam managed to upstage Momota in this area on a couple of occasions. Momota, also, seems to be aware of this, which may explain the continuous lobs to the far end of the court. As far as this tournament is concerned, I get the feeling that Momota is not going to win the net-game, which means that he will be aiming for precise shots to the corners and sidelines of the court, as well as other stamina-eroding techniques. Incidentally, in the post-match interview, Momota did not mention anything that might reveal his condition, weak points, etc. What was your take?
I agree with you on the footwork. Yes Lam wasn't a threat and yes Lam couldn't score 20 in two games. But when he managed to push Momota, it should have been either Momota not going for it at all or going for it at ease like coasting. However, Momota went for the shots but didn't seem to be doing it at ease, he seemed uncomfortable, unstable, again lacked springiness and losing balance. He is not as stable as before. Other top players also played against lower ranked players but they didn't seem like that. Just compare this match against his match at the beginning of other tourneys he has done or compare to match of other top players in this Olympics. He was also sweating a lot. I know he always does but this was especially the case when he came back to the sport. It reduced considerably when he was on top form. But I see it is back again. But I have always been pessimistic about his performances and always want him to prove me wrong. It could also be because I expected to see a 'final form' Momota for this Olympics. I expected an absolute monster. A bit like Lin Dan during Olympics. Pristine condition. Or could it be that he is faking it so that opponents do not read into him too much?
Momota played against a far worse player. When did Lam push him exactly? I watched the game twice. Lam never pushed Momota. It's true that Momota made some unforced errors, but so did all the other top players. Sweating a lot? Hahahaha what's next, was he drinking too much during the breaks too? LOL Of course he won't play to 100% of his capability against someone who's a much worse player. He may not win the Olympics, but to criticize him based on the very first match and a super easy one at that, is just silly.
Yes in 1 or 2 rally - ofc i'm not saying push like the top players would push Momota. But let's say I didn't see the floatiness of Momota's footwork. Compared to how he was before - even against lower skilled players - he was different. Him sweating is a thing. Not sure if you followed him closely since he came back. Else this comment would not seem so odd to you. Do we know when is his next match?
I really don't see how he was different. His footwork is the same. He's just rusty, because he hasn't played much in the last 18 months or so. I did see his touch at the net seems to be a bit off. But other than that he looked fine to me. Of course I follow him closely. Nothing odd about sweating. Next match is Wednesday.
To be honest, the more I saw of the performance, the less I liked what I saw. Judging it is pretty hard, though. First of all, there are so few performances (in the past year) to judge Kento on. Secondly, as @CzechKronner rightly said, he played against a much weaker opponent and wasn't asked a lot of questions. Thirdly, I'm naturally pessimistic, so this might influence my take as well. Apart from Okuhara, none of the Japanese players I saw looked like they are in the form of their lives (in terms of physique). This does not bother me for most players, but naturally for Yamaguchi and Momota. I find it disappointing. I also would have liked KM to be a lot more dominant against Lam. He showed a few good cross smashes, other than that he did not look particularly dangerous or quick, very much like at the All England. Either he really isn't much quicker than this, or he's taking it very slowly. For a tournament like this, I really don't see much sense at all in "holding back" or "conserving energy." He's played only a handful of competitive matches all year, he needs to get in the groove rather than take it easy imo. I also don't think that you're conserving a lot of energy, if Timothy Lam scores 21 points against you rather than 10. You can get better training for fine-tuning your shots against Tsuneyama. What you're also not doing if you're playing like this is gaining confidence and putting the fear of god into the upcoming opponents, both of which is far more important at this tournament than at other events. Noboby who's seen this performance has gone "Oh s..t, Momota looks scary." Granted, asserting himself is not really his style, but he'll be more nervous than he'll ever be again in a competition. If opponents were extra nervous themselves because they had to play a scary Momota it would help him imo. One last point. I didn't look too closely at his net shots, but I thought his clears and lifts were well short again. This became more apparent when I watched it a second time. We'll know more once he's played Heo, but I found his performance totally unconvincing. If I had to bet on the gold medal right now, I wouldn't pick Kento and this is actually a very hard thing to type.
