Tokyo: World No. 1 men’s singles player, Kento Momota, is planning to return to the badminton court at the end of December 2020.
He made that announcement on Wednesday, almost a year after suffering bruises all over his body and a broken right eye socket in a fatal car accident on his way to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport where the shuttle driver was killed on the spot. Momota then had to undergo surgery to repair his fractured right eye socket on Feb 8, 2020.
In that announcement, Momota said he will compete at the All-Japan national championships in Tokyo at the end of December before playing in the Asian legs of the adjusted Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour which will culminate with three back-to-back tournaments in Bangkok, Thailand in January 2021.
“It’s been almost a year since I played my last international tournament, so it’s difficult to know what’s working and what else that still needs to be improved,” said Momota.
“I’ll first compete in the All-Japan championships and I want to focus on that. Although I am a little nervous, I am also looking forward to playing against the top international players,” added Momota.
Although the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the 2020 international badminton calendar, Momota has kept training both at his club and at the Japanese national badminton team.
“We have heard a lot of bad news caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s really uplifting that we are finally able to compete in these tournaments. I want to give my best to provide hope and power to everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic,” continued Momota.
Momota remained as Japan’s best shot ever to win the badminton gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
