The soup cup focuses on Kento Momota: It is not a blessing to be able to leave with cheers

On April 28, Beijing time, the 2024 TotalEnergies Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Final entered the second match day of competition. Kento Momota, who played for his national team for the last time, was undoubtedly the biggest focus of the day's match, and in the fourth singles match, the Japanese men's team easily defeated the Czech Republic in Group B.

Momota is currently ranked 52nd in the world, behind Kodai Naraoka, Kenta Nishimoto and Koki Watanabe, and can only play in three singles. Before the game, he said that his role this time was different from before, and he would be more nervous when he was the third singles, and he hoped to complete the game with his years of experience. Before Momota Kento appeared, the Japanese men's team had already relied on the play of Kenta Nishimoto, Hangki Watanabe and others to seal the victory in advance with a total score of 3:0. However, Kenta Nishimoto, who played as a singles player today, still encountered some difficulties, and in the match against Jan Lauda, the two fought fiercely for 73 minutes, and finally Kenta Nishimoto won. Kento Momota defeated Dominique Kobriva 21-9, 21-3. Kenya Mihashi/Yoki Makinomura, who played after Kento Momota, won easily with a score of 21:11, 21:13 to secure the fifth point for the Japanese men's team.

Despite only playing in the fourth, two-time world champion Kento Momota was the most eye-catching feature of the morning's session, receiving the highest decibel cheers on his appearance. Teammate Kenta Nishimoto said after winning the first bout: "We are very relieved [with Momota in the third singles] and hope that the player in front of us will play well and pass the baton to him." ”

The result of the match was no longer important, and the Czech took the initiative to wait for Momota to finish the interview after the match, and then stepped forward to ask for a group photo. "It's wonderful. I know it's his last international game and it's a great feeling to be able to play before he retires. I think I'm playing well, but he's really good. I liked him a lot before this game. After the game, I respected him even more. ”

Everyone realized that after this soup cup, it would be difficult to see this once undefeated talent on the international stage.

Momota's athletic career has gone through three Olympic cycles, two peaks and two lows, but he always misses opportunities at the most critical moments.

On September 1, 1994, Kento Momota was born in Mino Town, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. In 2014, at the age of 20, Momota was named to Japan's Thomas Cup roster and played as the second singles player, helping Japan to top their group and beating China and Malaysia in the semi-finals and finals. Japan broke the monopoly of Indonesia, China and Malaysia and became the fourth team to win the Thomas Cup since its inception in 1949.

In 2015, Momota won the first Japanese Badminton Superseries title at the Singapore Super Series, becoming the first Japanese badminton men's singles champion at the year-end finals, and reached a new record high on 4 April 2016 to reach No. 2 in the world rankings. Just when the young Momota was identified as the favorite to win gold in the Rio Olympics, he was taken to an illegal casino by Tian Erxian and removed from the national team, missing the opportunity to participate in the Olympics for the first time.

In 2017, Kento Momota, who had been banned for more than a year, returned to the game, starting from the low-level competition from zero, participating at his own expense, winning 5 championships, and was recalled to the national team by Park Joo-bong at the end of the year, once again starting his own upward period.

This time he really ushered in the heyday of his career. Since the 2019 German Open, he has won 11 consecutive tournaments, defended his World Championship title, set a Guinness Book of Records, and was named the best male athlete in the BWF. Almost all fans believe that the men's singles champion of badminton at Tokyo 2020 is none other than Kento Momota.

He was omnipotent and invincible in those two years, and he was just a little short of reaching that peak. However, the unexpected came earlier than the Tokyo Olympics.

Due to the pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics, which were supposed to be held in 2020, were postponed by a year. At the 2020 Malaysia Open, Kento Momota won the title again, but he didn't know that on the way to victory, a car accident was about to land on him. Momota suffered a fractured nose and returned to Japan to train with the Japanese national team after recuperating for more than a month, but found that he had a vision problem and was confirmed to have a fracture at the base of the eye socket of his right eye. In January 2021, Momota was diagnosed with the new coronavirus, after which he was never able to regain his previous abilities. At the postponed Tokyo Olympics, Momota, who had high hopes, lost to South Korea's Heo Yoon-hee in an upset and collapsed in the group stage, and he couldn't cry during the interview.

Since the crash, Momota has only won the title twice, once at the 2021 Indonesia Masters and the other at the 2023 Korea Masters. He also tried hard to climb out of the quagmire, "Now I really play hard with one ball and one ball, unlike other foreign players who have amazing strikes and no excellent ball control ability, but I want everyone to see that I am so tenacious to put pressure on the opponent and go into battle with strong determination." He said, "For those who want to give up and run away now, I would be very happy if I could be the one who gives them courage." ”

During the Paris Olympic cycle, Momota Kento has gone through many efforts and disappointments, and he has no chance to score 50 points. Finally, Momota held a press conference in Tokyo on April 18 to announce that he would officially withdraw from international competition after the conclusion of this year's Yuyu Cup. "I've always tried to play the way I want and to play, but I've reached my mental and physical limits so I made the decision to retire from the national team," he said. ”

Kento Momota's retirement not only touched the hearts of fans, but also touched the emotions of many players.

Axelsen immediately wrote on social media: "Although I have been beaten by you many times, I am really happy to be able to play with you on the court. It's a privilege to play against a player like you, you inspire me to work harder, and I know that you inspire a lot of fans and kids around the world to start picking up rackets. He also posted a photo with Momota on this soup cup: "It's a rival and a friend, I wish you all the best in your future life, and I hope we will have another chance to meet in the future." ”

"I'm always very excited when I fight Momota. I was shocked to hear that he was retiring. The past few months have been very difficult for him. I think he should have the life he wants to live. ”

Compared to the sadness of the car accident before the start of the tournament, when he was unable to play as much as he wanted, Momota Kento expressed his thoughts with a calm mood after his debut in the soup cup: "I had a lot of fans to support me in today's game, and I finished the game very happily. I was very nervous, but thanks to the encouragement of the audience, I got a lot of strength. "I want to fight with our team until the end." As long as I play, I have to take responsibility and try to do my best to protect this point for the team. ”

Momota said, "I really felt the enthusiasm of the fans, and I felt reluctant, but from another point of view, it was a blessing to be able to retire to such a warm cheer." ”

Say goodbye to the international badminton world, put an end to the legend of an undefeated genius, and life must go on. Momota was also deeply anxious about what he could do other than play in the trough, but he seemed to be relieved after announcing his retirement - he will not leave badminton in his life after that, and will work hard to promote badminton, because it is a career he has always loved.

Just like Momota once said to a child who has just practiced badminton: "One person can't play, one person can't train or compete, everything comes from the support of others, and all good things can happen." So play with gratitude, that's what badminton is all about. ”

Reporter: Luo Ning Editor: Hou Chao Proofreader: Li Li Photography: Tang You Cup Organizing Committee