A shame to hear the news. So many misfortunes mixed with so much success. At least we got to witness his best. Nice video below
As someone who haven't paid much attention to MS since LD / LCW era, I am genuinely curious about experts' opinion on Momota. How much of his downfall in performance after the accident was actually due to the accident (physical, psychological damage), vs other players figuring out his game so he wasn't effective anymore?
According to me all his downfall was due to the accident. Otherwise he propably could have equalled Lin Dan in being 2x OG and 5x WC gold medalist this upcoming summer.
Momota has acknowledged that he is more an intuitive player than a systematic player. So, for this reason I believe opponents had a lot of time to figure out how to defeat him but were unable to do so before the accident. His ability to move to all corners of the court were smooth and fast. His shots were accurate, tight and had good variation. He plays slightly different depending on opponent. His eyes were alert. He preserves his energy well and strikes at right moment. He reads opponent and anticipates well. All that was gone and he became monotonous after the accident. Unfortunately because he plays by intuition, he said that it will take a bit of time before he can explain to younger players about his style. He mentioned that often he himself don't know why he was able to execute certain shots well. He just loves badminton.
So it is the last few times we are watching him then. So sad. I am still hoping a miracle will happen in this tourney.
Japan winning Thomas Cup? Chances not high. Momota will retire without an Olympic medal. He was also close to winning the Sudirman Cup for Japan.
I'd will. I'm a Momo fan too. Soon, I will have no players to support if the Daddies and Intanon announce their retirement this year.
Anyone else notice that his career is coming full circle? It was at the 2014 Thomas cup that I first saw him...breaking Malaysian hearts in the 2nd Mens Singles Match against Chong Wei Feng. I wanted Malaysia to win at the time but I remember thinking and discussing with a fellow club member how good Momota was. Here is again ten years later, although playing MS3 this time. Can Japan rally and send him off as a 2-time Thomas Cup winner, questionable. All I know is that I'll miss seeing him on the International stage post this tourny.
I am in the same situation regarding badminton. There is no one I want to watch. That last interview was heart breaking
Catching some of his matches in current Thomas Cup on Youtube. He is enjoying the game, playing some creative shots, and celebrating after winning rallies.
