Kento Momota announces retirement from international badminton at 29

Kento Momota, a two-time world champion and former World No. 1, said he is retiring from international badminton at the age of 29, admitting he had never been the same since a serious car crash four years ago.

Japan’s Momota was once the sport’s undisputed king, winning 11 titles in 2019 and losing just six of the 73 matches he played that year.

But in January 2020, the vehicle taking him to Kuala Lumpur airport crashed hours after he won the Malaysia Masters. The driver was killed and Momota needed surgery to fix a fractured eye socket.

“At the time of the accident, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think to myself, ‘Why me?’,” Momota told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.

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When he returned a year later, Momota suffered double vision and failed to regain the form that had taken him to top of the rankings, although he did win two more titles.

Now, ranked 52 and having failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics, Momota will retire from Japan’s national team after the Thomas Cup in China later this month.

Following the team event, he plans on playing only in domestic competitions in Japan and not on badminton’s World Tour.

“There were a lot of tough times after that traffic accident,” Momota added.

“I tried to get back to the way I used to play through trial and error, but there was a gap between my feelings and my body.

“That continued and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to a level where I was competing with the world’s best.”

‘A lot of hardship’

Smiling throughout his 45-minute press conference to announce the retirement, Momota said he had “no regrets” about stepping away from top-level badminton.

He wishes to promote badminton in Japan and thanked the people involved in the sport for helping him through his darkest hour.

“There was a lot of hardship and it wore me down, but I didn’t want to blame the tough times on the accident,” he added.

“I wanted to bounce back from it and that attitude along with the support of people around me at least allowed me to get a foothold.”

Viktor Axelsen, who supplanted Momota as the best men’s player in the world, said “it has been an absolute pleasure sharing the court with you”.

@momota_kento wish you a Happy Retirentment!

Even though you have kicked my a** way too many times 😆 , it has been an absolute pleasure sharing the court with you. I feel lucky to have been able to compete with a player of your caliber. You have pushed me to work harder and I…

— Viktor Axelsen (@ViktorAxelsen) April 18, 2024

“I feel lucky to have been able to compete with a player of your calibre,” the reigning number one wrote on X.

Momota had looked to qualify for the Olympics this year but his national ranking was not good enough to earn him a spot in Japan’s team.

He was banned from selection for the 2016 Rio Olympics for gambling at an illegal casino.

At the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he lost in the opening round in a huge shock which he described as “nothing but a frustrating memory”.

“I don’t think I was fully prepared for it but I had dreamed of playing at the Olympics for a long time so in that sense it was a good experience,” he said.

Momota urged his national compatriots to learn from his mistakes and keep calm when they step out at the Paris Olympics.

“I really felt how difficult it was to do the things you do normally, so don’t think about the result, just give it your all so that you have no regrets,” he said.