Two-time world champion Kento Momota mentioned Thursday he’s retiring from worldwide badminton aged 29, ending a top-level profession that by no means recovered from a automobile crash 4 years in the past.
Momota, who had already missed out on a spot on the Paris Olympics, will play for Japan for the final time on the Thomas Cup in China later this month.
The previous World No. 1 will solely function in home competitions in Japan after that and never on badminton’s World Tour.
ALSO READ | Paris 2024, 100 days to go: Olympic Video games FAQs, schedule, venue, dates full data
“I’ve made this determination as a result of it seems like I’ve reached my bodily and psychological restrict in making an attempt to get again to being the very best on the planet,” Momota, now ranked 52nd, mentioned in an announcement.
Momota was as soon as badminton’s undisputed king, successful 11 titles in 2019 and shedding simply six of the 73 matches he performed that yr. However his life was turned the wrong way up in January 2020 when the car taking him to Kuala Lumpur airport crashed hours after he gained the Malaysia Masters.
The driving force was killed and Momota wanted surgical procedure to restore a fractured eye socket. He suffered double imaginative and prescient and struggled to regain his earlier kind when he returned to competitors after a yr out of motion.
He misplaced within the opening spherical on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and fell on the first hurdle in 4 of the primary 5 tournaments he entered the next yr. He was additionally hampered by accidents and noticed his world rating plummet as former rival Viktor Axelsen established himself as badminton’s high participant.
Momota, who was embroiled in a playing scandal earlier in his profession, ended a two-year title drought when he gained the Korea Masters in November final yr.
Momota had focused this summer season’s Paris Olympics however his nationwide rating was not adequate to earn him a spot in Japan’s staff. He was banned from choice for the 2016 Rio Olympics for playing at an unlawful on line casino.