Disgraced Japanese badminton star Kenichi Tago makes new life as coach and player in Malaysia’s Purple League
Unlike fellow gambling ban star and new world number one Kento Momota, former world number three has not been embraced back into badminton
He was once the world number three, a member of the national team that clinched the prestigious Thomas Cup and the first Japanese badminton player to lift the Asian junior title, but now Kenichi Tago and his former colleague Kento Momota are living very different lives.
Both players were involved in a gambling scandal prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics and accordingly, were banned by the Japan Badminton Association and missed the Games.
While the younger of the two, Momota, only 24, returned to action last year before clinching the singles world title in Nanjing in August and surging to become the world number one last week, Tago now works quietly as a visiting coach for the Malaysia women’s team and plays for Petaling Badminton Club in the Purple League.
According to reports in Malaysia, Tago, now 29, felt sorry for what he has done before..
“I have quit gambling,” he said, according to reports in Malaysia. “I was too young and impulsive those days and just followed my instinct.