Kento Momota, Japan’s former world No 1 retires from international badminton at age 29, four years after a car crash
- Momota, who missed out on a place for the Paris Olympics, will play for Japan for the last time at the Thomas Cup in China later this month
- The two-time world champion, now ranked 52, will feature only in domestic competitions in Japan after that and not on badminton’s World Tour
Two-time world champion Kento Momota said on Thursday he is retiring from international badminton aged 29, ending a top-level career that never recovered from a car crash four years ago.
Momota, who had already missed out on a place at the Paris Olympics, will play for Japan for the last time at the Thomas Cup in China later this month.
The former world number one will feature only in domestic competitions in Japan after that and not on badminton’s World Tour.
“I have made this decision because it feels like I have reached my physical and mental limit in trying to get back to being the best in the world,” Momota, now ranked 52, said in a statement.
Momota was once badminton’s undisputed king, winning 11 titles in 2019 and losing just six of the 73 matches he played that year.
But his life was turned upside down in January 2020 when 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 repair a fractured eye socket.