He couldn't control the net, being forced to lift each time. LZJ meanwhile was able to set up for his smash. What a turn since normally controlling the net is KM's signature
Traumagenic experiences affect everyone differently. Not easy to shake off. It will take time but I am sure he will get stronger.
So many uncharacteristic mistakes, and the net game is not there at all. Many short clears and movement looks slower than before. Also looks quite nervy today. He definitely needs more match practice. Momota does have a track record of cracking under pressure on his comeback tournaments.
Yeah, it was a woeful showing but woeful in a way that was to be expected. The vast majority of what was lacking today can be attributed to lack of match practice and confidence. He played so many short lifts and clears (oh god, those cross-clears ) that they could be counted as assists. LZJ is also not the right guy to play short clears against. Then he was second best at the net throughout the game. He also miss-hit several smashes, which led to wonky curves on the shuttle (I think he even scored a point with one of those, because LZJ was expecting something more straigh). In terms of confidence, he led in both games (15-12 in the first, 16-15 in the second), but got nervous. I hope he looks as this as a normal result after such a long break and that he can fix what was missing (precision) quite comfortably. Then results and confidence will follow.
Yeah, those cross court clears were pretty bad and was coming too often. LZJ was almost waiting for them. Momota is the type to come back stronger so I'm sure he will turn this loss into a plus.
This is all from not being in International tourneys for a long time and also from what he came through. He will come back stronger. I expected his last match to be today. I called it in the earlier posts I think. But LZJ is a player that I always liked but today he lost my respect with the Marin style moaning for each points and the almost insulting net kill.
You were spot on. I didn't see it coming, based on previous matches with LZJ, and the fact that LZJ lost to a youngster at the Swiss Open. I was surprised by the body language of Momota today: he did not look confident, almost "scared", it looked like he knew he was gonna lose. This tournament is full or surprises: I didn't expect Watanabe to play so well against Axelsen either.
Wow, what a win by LZJ. He played some of his best badminton and he was in the zone. I never would have predicted LZJ winning, nevermind winning in 2 sets too. For Momota, I suspect Kanta Tsuneyama and Kenta Nishimoto are not pushing Momota enough in training or in the domestic Japanese tournaments. Momota needs to be playing the top players in the world - players such as CTC, Viktor, Antonsen, Chen Long, SYQ, Ginting, Christie, etc, who can push Momota to #1 again. Also, the coaches of other countries will game plan in detail against Momota. I'm not sure if Kanta Tsuneyama and Kenta Nishimoto are doing detailed game plans against Momota in the domestic Japanese tournaments - and even if they are, Momota probably knows their styles anyways because they play and train so much together. But it's different on the international circuit where Momota doesn't know the play styles of the other players as well. LZJ said he did a lot of studying and preparation against Momota: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/03/20/more-sports/no-1-kento-momota-upset-england-open/. I'm going to assume Momota isn't suffering from any major injuries since the car accident (all pro players always have some type of lingering minor injury but they can usually play through those nagging minor injuries and win). Only Momota, his coaching staff, and his trainer would know if he has outstanding injuries that cost him loss against LZJ. What I did see though was a few times where Momota was comfortably behind the shuttle in the backcourt, and then he hit a shallow return, which allowed LZJ to smash the winner. I think there were some net plays too where Momota was comfortably at the net and the return by LZJ was not particularly tight, but he did a short lob to the back and LZJ just smashed those (this is excluding the tight net shots that LZJ hitthat were very difficult to return by Momota - I'm talking about a non-tight net shot that Momota would have routinely lobbed it to the back court in the past, but for some reason, Momota lobbed it short to the backcourt). It seemed like Momota had difficulty reading LZJ's game, Momota was less consistent than usual, and shots that should have been routine for Momota became poor shots (ie. some shots to the backcourt that were just short). Anyways, I had Momota as the #1 favorite to win gold at the Olympics. After his performance today, I'm not so sure anymore. We need to see Momota play in more high level international tournaments (not domestic Japanese tournaments). The good thing for Momota is that there is still time for him to fix his game and play like the world #1 he was before his car accident. Lucky for Momota, he is finding out now (it would have been better if he found out in January but whatever, there is still time until the Olympics). Imagine if Momota missed this tournament and maybe the next few tournaments, then he walks into the Olympics thinking he is still the best player in the world but then getting upset by LZJ or some other player? 4 months is plenty of time for Momota to get his game back. But he needs to play in more top level tournaments so he can get his anticipation and consistency back to where he was before the car accident.
Let's hope it's like 2018. On his comeback trail, Momota lost in the QF of both the Swiss Open 2018 and the German Open 2018, and that was in February-March 2018: people were doubting his actual level back then. But in April 2018, he won the BAC and of course a few months later his first World Championship. Does anyone know which tournament is left for Momota before the Olympics?
Momota played so bad it's unbelievable. No confidence, no tactics to his game. He kept making the same mistake over and over. No attack whatsoever. He needs to do some soul searching if he's to compete for the Gold in Tokyo. Antonsen and Axelsen are way above his level now. Not to mention LZJ, to whom losing is embarrassing.
Momota posted this on his twitter. The end roughly says: "After the defeat, I thought a lot. I found a lot of things that I need to work on. I have a lot of work to do. I believe in myself that I can still evolve. I will start from zero and come back stronger!"
Let me post the full passage. Honestly, I am so frustrated. I didn’t realise that losing could be this frustrating. But somewhere, I also feel happiness at myself for being able to take part in an international badminton tournament. After all, there was a time when I believed that I might no longer be able to take part; when I believed that I might have to give up badminton. Thank you to all those involved in staging this tournament. I would also like to thank those around me who created the opportunity for me to play again. After the defeat, many things came to mind. Having to find aspects improve, I found a mountain of problems to work on. I believe that the fact that I can think like this means that I can still evolve. I am going to start from 0 and come back stronger!! From now on I am going to try hard as a ‘challenger’. I am grateful for your support. Momota Kento
There you go, literally the perfect response. If it was someone else you could think it was just PR, but in Kento's case:
He’s hurting but like a proud prize fighter,he will bounce back once he gets his defensive and deceptive game back, also I felt he wasn’t “reading” his opponents against LZJ like he used to,not taking anything from Lee who played brilliant, before the pandemic KM was invincible,I have no doubt he will be again.
After the accident almost kill himself, i think his comeback is a miracle, and what doesnt kill you make you stronger, i believe he will be better everyday from now on
Actually, I respectfully disagree. I think LZJ played an excellent game. He showed a solid defense, was stellar at the net which laid an extremely strong foundation for a powerful attacking game. I agree that Kento wasn't his former self, but I feel your description goes too far. Yes, he got outplayed at the net. Yes, his shot quality and precision wasn't at the level that we were used to seeing, but I feel that this is normal given all the circumstances. I think we should also give some credit to LZJ who played an excellent match. Personally, I think he has a good shot at beating Axelsen today.
I don't really know what you expected, to be honest. He was gone for fourteen months, had to undergo surgery and contracted Covid. Is he supposed to be at the same level as before after all of that? I also disagree with your statement on Antonsen and Axelsen. Axelsen was lauded to high heavens, because in Thailand, he defeated obviously out of shape and out of form guys and yelled into an empty arena a lot. The moment he got challenged slightly he had to play three games against out of form Ginting (look at his results in Thailand) and lost - without chance - against Antonsen at the WTF (16-21, 17-21). Here at the all England, he nearly crashed out against Watanabe in the first round, had to play three against Praneeth and again looked like a fool for most of the match against Antonsen. Those countless unforced errors, the HIGH SERVES? Come on. Antonsen on the other hand is struggling so obviously with fitness that he has to resort to taking a "recovery game" in tournaments. Even when he doesn even have to play opponents from China, from Japan and so on. Yesterday he was 11-6 up in the third and totally gave it away with countless heavy unforced errors (10, actually. A crazy number). If that is the standard, I'm sure KM can catch up to that soon.
LZJ is a one trick pony. Kento just kept lifting high to his forehand corner, like what the heck. KM was unable to change tactics, that's what worries me the most. Physically even if he isn't 100% I didn't see any issues in movement. It was his tactical game, his very foundation, that was terrible. LZJ will get smashed by VA, I am sure of that. Antonsen is struggling physically but his tactical game is amazing. Axelsen played way too many matches, of course he's gonna have a bad game now and then, but he still prevailed. KM displayed atrocious tactical game, he was basically feeding LZJ the entire match. That's what's so sad about it.
