Kento Momota

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Kento Momota
桃田 賢斗
Kento Momota at the Yonex German Open 2019
Personal information
Birth nameKento Momota
Country Japan
Born (1994-09-01) 1 September 1994 (age 29)
Mino, Kagawa, Japan
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight68 kg (150 lb)
HandednessLeft
CoachYosuke Nakanishi
Men's singles
Career record335 wins, 78 losses
Highest ranking1 (27 September 2018)
Current ranking1 (17 March 2020)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Japan
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Basel Men's singles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Nanjing Men's singles
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Jakarta Men's singles
Sudirman Cup
Silver medal – second place 2019 Nanning Mixed team
Silver medal – second place 2015 Dongguan Mixed team
Thomas Cup
Gold medal – first place 2014 New Delhi Men's team
Silver medal – second place 2018 Bangkok Men's team
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Jakarta Men's team
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Wuhan Men's singles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Wuhan Men's singles
Asia Team Championships
Silver medal – second place 2016 Hyderabad Men's team
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Chiba Boys' singles
Silver medal – second place 2012 Chiba Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Taipei Boys' singles
Asian Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Gimcheon Boys' singles
Gold medal – first place 2012 Gimcheon Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Lucknow Boys' singles
BWF profile

Kento Momota (桃田 賢斗, Momota Kento, born 1 September 1994) is a Japanese badminton player. He is known to have a skillful and relentless play style on court. He has won several major badminton tournaments including two World Championships titles, two Asian Championships titles, and one All England title.

Career summary

Kento Momota started his badminton career from junior level with quite perfect results. Momota's badminton talent has been seen since he was a child. The player born in Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, on September 1, 1994, started to wrestle with feathers since he was in the second grade of elementary school. He won the first title in a fairly prestigious tournament in Japan, the All Japan Elementary School Championships. Kala's Momota, who was in grade 6, came out as a champion in the men's singles number. After elementary school, Momota continued his studies in Junior High School in Fukuoka Prefecture. In his third year, he again won a similar tournament but at the junior level, the All Japan Junior High School Championships. Graduating from junior high school, Momota studied at the Fukuoka High School.

2011

Momota's presence was increasingly visible as he took part in a bigger race, the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Taiwan. Even though Momota did not make it as a champion, it was a valuable lesson when he lost in the semifinal to the Malaysian Zulfadli Zulkiffli who came out as the 2011 World Junior Champion. Towards the end of 2011, Momota began to compete with his seniors in the All Japan Badminton Championship or 2011 Japan National Championship. Momota lost to Kenichi Tago in the final. Even so, his performance was noticed by the Nippon Badminton Association (NBA). Momota began to join the Japanese national team and was expected to become a future star.

2012

Young Momota continued to learn from his defeats. Momota participated in the 2012 Asian Junior Championship held in Gimcheon, South Korea. Learning from his mistakes in 2011, he avenged his defeat in 2011 by becoming 2012 Asia Junior Champion after defeating Malaysian representatives, Soong Joo Ven in two straight games, 21-13, 22-20. In the same year, Momota also won the World Junior Championship held in Chiba, Japan. Appearing at home, Momota managed to donate gold in public. In the final round, he beat the mainstay of China, Xue Song through a very tight rubber game match. Momota won 21-17, 19-21, 21-19

2013

The promising Momota prospect attracted the attention of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation, the badminton club of NTT East which finally succeeded in asking for his hand to join. Momota officially joined the club that raised its name since April 2013. NTT is the largest telecommunications company in Japan. By joining the NTT East club, Momota was ready with the consequences of also working at the company. Momota who was then 19 years old had begun to learn to manage time management in such a way. He began to get used to dividing his time to work, practicing on the Japanese national team, and being active in his club.

In 2013, Momota who started the youth competition was sent to the International Challenge (IC) competition level. Satisfactory results in Momih in the IC satisfaction series in Europe. Momota managed to emerge as champion in Estonia, Sweden and Austria. Momota was immediately forged in a series of Grand Prix / Gold (GP / GPG) tournaments and even superseries (premiers) throughout 2013. In tournaments with higher castes, Momota could not immediately become a champion. Great achievement does require a process that is not instant, that's the sentence that would be right for Momota who at that time really struggled with often crawl from the qualifying round.

2014

He won all his matches during Japan's maiden Thomas Cup victory in 2014, playing second men's singles behind Kenichi Tago.

2015

In 2015, He was the first Japanese player to win the Singapore Open. By winning that title, he became the first Japanese player to successfully capture a Super Series in Men's Singles and currently holds the record as the youngest Super Series champion in that category.In the 2015 Sudirman Cup, he repeated his feat in Thomas Cup to help Japan secure a spot as a runner-up. He once again made history in the BWF World Championships 2015 held in Jakarta. He became the first Japanese player to win a medal in the Men's Singles category of the prestigious tournament. He made it to the semi-finals, before losing to Chen Long in straight sets. Rounding off the year, he won the 2015 BWF World Superseries Final in Dubai. He competed at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon as well as the 2016 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Hyderabad.

2018

Momota returned to the Japanese national team at the end of 2017. However, due to a lack of his points, he was not qualified to play in the 2018 All England Open, a significant Super 1000 tournament which was held in March.[1] On 28 April, he won the 2018 Asian Championship which was held in Wuhan, after defeating Chen Long of China in the finals with a score of 21–17, 21–13.

On 5 August, he won the World Championships title in Nanjing, China after beating Shi Yuqi from China in the finals with a score of 21–11, 21–13. He also won 4 BWF World Tour titles: Indonesia Open, Japan Open, Denmark Open and Fuzhou China Open. Momota became the first Japanese men's singles player to occupy the World number 1 in the BWF World ranking in 27 September.[2]

2019

Momota started the 2019 season by competing at the Malaysia Masters as the first seeds, but his pace stopped by Kenta Nishimoto in the first round.[3] He then reached the final in Indonesia Masters, but losing to Anders Antonsen of Denmark.[4] Momota claimed his first title in 2019, by winning the German Open a Super 300 tournament.[5] In March 2019, he won the All England Open beating Viktor Axelsen from Denmark in the finals in 3 sets with a score of 21–11, 15–21, 21–15, becoming the first Japanese man to win the All England Open title.[6]

In April, Momota won his second Asian Championships title in Wuhan, China beating home favorite Shi Yuqi in three games 12–21, 21–18, 21–8.[7] He also won the Singapore and Japan Open titles. In August, he reclaimed his World Champion title, beating Anders Antonsen 21–9 and 21–3. In doing so, Momota became only the fourth player to win back-to-back titles on a short, all-Chinese list that includes Yang Yang, Lin Dan and Chen Long.[8] After that, he won his first title in China and Korea Opens, also defend his title at Denmark Open and Fuzhou China Open.[9]

Momota closed his stellar 2019 year by winning his 11th title, the World Tour Finals by beating Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 17–21, 21–17, 21–14.[10] Previously in the gala dinner of the same event, he was awarded as the BWF Best Male Player of the Year.[11] He is also nominated as Best Male Athlete by the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive.[12]

2020

Momota began the 2020 season as the men's singles world No. 1. He competed at the Malaysia Masters as the first seeded, defeated Indian's Kashyap Parupalli and H. S. Prannoy in the first and second round with two straight games, later in the quarter final beat Huang Yuxiang in the rubber games.[13] In the semi final, he dashed the host's hopes by bowing Lee Zii Jia with the score of 21–10, 21–19.[14] Despite not being at his physical best, Momota pulled off a good show to beat the 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 24–22, 21–11 in the final. He extended his head-to-head record over Axelsen to a whopping 14–1.[15] After winning the Malaysia Masters, Momota was involved in an accident on the way to the airport. He suffered a broken nose as well as injuries to his lips and face.[16]

Achievements

BWF World Championships

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2019 St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland Denmark Anders Antonsen 21–9, 21–3 Gold Gold
2018 Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China China Shi Yuqi 21–11, 21–13 Gold Gold
2015 Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia China Chen Long 9–21, 15–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships

Men's singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2019 Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China China Shi Yuqi 12–21, 21–18, 21–8 Gold Gold
2018 Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China China Chen Long 21–17, 21–13 Gold Gold

BWF World Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2012 Chiba Port Arena, Chiba, Japan China Xue Song 21–17, 19–21, 21–19 Gold Gold
2011 Taoyuan Arena, Taoyuan & Taipei, Chinese Taipei Malaysia Zulfadli Zulkiffli 18–21, 18–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Junior Championships

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2012 Gimcheon Indoor Stadium, Gimcheon, South Korea Malaysia Soong Joo Ven 21–13, 22–20 Gold Gold
2011 Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium, Lucknow, India Malaysia Zulfadli Zulkiffli 18–21, 19–21 Bronze Bronze

BWF World Tour (14 titles, 4 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[17] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[18]

Men's singles

Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result
2020 Malaysia Masters Super 500 Denmark Viktor Axelsen 24–22, 21–11 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 BWF World Tour Finals (1) World Tour Finals Indonesia Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 17–21, 21–17, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Fuzhou China Open (2) Super 750 Chinese Taipei Chou Tien-chen 21–15, 17–21, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Denmark Open (2) Super 750 China Chen Long 21–14, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Korea Open (1) Super 500 Chinese Taipei Chou Tien-chen 21–19, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 China Open (1) Super 1000 Indonesia Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 19–21, 21–17, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Japan Open (2) Super 750 Indonesia Jonatan Christie 21–16, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Singapore Open (2) Super 500 Indonesia Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 10–21, 21–19, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 All England Open (1) Super 1000 Denmark Viktor Axelsen 21–11, 15–21, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 German Open (1) Super 300 Japan Kenta Nishimoto 21–10, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2019 Indonesia Masters Super 500 Denmark Anders Antonsen 16–21, 21–14, 16–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2018 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals China Shi Yuqi 12–21, 11–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2018 Fuzhou China Open (1) Super 750 Chinese Taipei Chou Tien-chen 21–13, 11–21, 21–16 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Denmark Open (1) Super 750 Chinese Taipei Chou Tien-chen 22–20, 16–21, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 China Open Super 1000 Indonesia Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 21–23, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2018 Japan Open (1) Super 750 Thailand Khosit Phetpradab 21–14, 21–11 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Indonesia Open (2) Super 1000 Denmark Viktor Axelsen 21–14, 21–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2018 Malaysia Open Super 750 Malaysia Lee Chong Wei 17–21, 21–23 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up

BWF Superseries (4 titles)

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two levels, Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, introduced in 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the end of the year.

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2016 India Open (1) Denmark Viktor Axelsen 21–15, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 World Superseries Finals (1) Denmark Viktor Axelsen 21–15, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Indonesia Open (1) Denmark Jan Ø. Jørgensen 16–21, 21–19, 21–7 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2015 Singapore Open (1) Hong Kong Hu Yun 21–17, 16–21, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF Superseries Finals tournament
  BWF Superseries Premier tournament
  BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2017 Macau Open (1) Indonesia Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 21–16, 21–10 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 Dutch Open (1) Japan Yu Igarashi 21–10, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 Canada Open Japan Kanta Tsuneyama 20–22, 21–14, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (7 titles)

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2018 Vietnam International Malaysia Goh Giap Chin 21–9, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 Czech Open France Thomas Rouxel 21–8, 21–14 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 Belgian International Hong Kong Lee Cheuk Yiu 21–14, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2017 Yonex / K&D Graphics International Guatemala Kevin Cordon 21–7, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Austrian International Japan Riichi Takeshita 21–19, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Swedish Masters Netherlands Eric Pang 21–9, 16–21, 21–18 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
2013 Estonian International Finland Eetu Heino 20–22, 21–15, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

Gambling scandal

On 7 April 2016, Momota admitted visiting an illegal casino in Tokyo after casino staff reported him gambling there "frequently". In a board meeting, it was revealed that he gambled away 0.5 million yen during 6 visits to the casino with his teammate, Kenichi Tago, who spent 10 million yen after 60 visits to various casinos.[19][20] The Nippon Badminton Association secretary general Kinji Zeniya said it would “probably be impossible” for Momota to participate in the Rio 2016 Olympics, with frequent gambling being punishable by law with a prison sentence of up to 3 years.[21][22][23][24] He was banned from playing until late 2017 for this.

Career overview

Performance timeline

National team

  • Junior level
Team events 2010 2011 2012
Asian Junior Championships GS QF Gold
World Junior Championships 5th 5th Silver
  • Senior level
Team events 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Asian Championships — Silver — QF —
Asian Games QF — Bronze —
Thomas Cup Gold Gold — A — Silver Silver —
Sudirman Cup — Silver — A — Silver Silver —

Individual competitions

  • Junior level
Event 2010 2011 2012
Asian Junior Championships R4 (BS)
R2 (BD) 		Bronze (BS)
R2 (BD)
R2 (XD) 		Gold
World Junior Championships R3 (BS)
R2 (XD) 		Bronze (BS)
R3 (BD) 		Gold
  • Senior level
Event 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Asian Championships R3 R2 R1 w/d A Gold Gold
Asian Games — R16 — R16 —
BWF World Championships — A R1 Bronze — A Gold Gold —
Tournament 2018 2019 2020 Best
BWF World Tour
Malaysia Malaysia Masters A R1 W W (2020)
Indonesia Indonesia Masters A F w/d F (2019)
Germany German Open QF W W (2019)
England All England Open A W W (2019)
Switzerland Swiss Open QF A QF (2018)
Malaysia Malaysia Open F R2 F (2018)
Singapore Singapore Open A W W (2015, 2019)
Indonesia Indonesia Open W R2 W (2015, 2018)
Japan Japan Open W W W (2018, 2019)
China China Open F W W (2019)
South Korea Korea Open QF W W (2019)
Denmark Denmark Open W W W (2018, 2019)
France French Open SF QF SF (2014, 2018)
China Fuzhou China Open W W W (2018, 2019)
Hong Kong Hong Kong Open SF w/d SF (2018)
China BWF World Tour Finals F W W (2015, 2019)
Year-end Ranking[25] 1 1 1
Tournament 2018 2019 2020 Best
Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Best
BWF Super Series
England All England Open A QF QF QF A QF (2014, 2015, 2016)
India India Open A R1 R1 R2 W A W (2016)
Malaysia Malaysia Open A QF QF R2 A QF (2014, 2015)
Singapore Singapore Open A QF R1 W w/d A W (2015)
China China Masters A QF GPG QF (2013)
Australia Australian Open GPG QF R2 A QF (2014)
Indonesia Indonesia Open A R1 W A W (2015)
South Korea Korea Open A R2 SF A SF (2015)
Japan Japan Open A R2 R1 R2 A R2 (2013, 2015)
Denmark Denmark Open A R1 R2 QF A QF (2015)
France French Open A R1 SF R2 A SF (2014)
China China Open R1 SF QF R2 A SF (2013)
Hong Kong Hong Kong Open A R1 R1 R2 A R2 (2015)
BWF Superseries Finals NQ GS W NQ W (2015)
Year-end Ranking 90 17 13 3 — 48 3
Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Best
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Best
BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold
Malaysia Malaysia Masters A R2 A R2 (2012)
Germany German Open A R2 R3 w/d A R3 (2014)
Australia Australian Open A R3 SS R3 (2013)
United States U.S. Open A SF A SF (2013)
Canada Canada Open A R2 R3 w/d A F F (2017)
Vietnam Vietnam Open A QF A QF (2012)
Netherlands Dutch Open A W W (2017)
South Korea Korea Masters R2 A R2 (2010)
Macau Macau Open A R2 R1 R2 A W W (2017)
Indonesia Indonesian Masters A R1 A — R1 (2012)

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi finalists, and Olympic quarter finalists. Accurate as of 14 January 2020.[26]

References

  1. ^ "全英赛日本队强势崛起 中国衰落印尼丹韩有特点". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Japan's Kento Momota tops men's singles ranking for the first time". www.olympicchannel.com. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  3. ^ Etchells, Daniel (16 January 2019). "Top seed Momota sent packing by compatriot Nishimoto in first round of BWF Malaysia Masters". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  4. ^ Morgan, Liam (27 January 2019). "Antonsen stuns world champion Momota to clinch first major title at BWF Indonesia Masters". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Badminton: Momota, Yamaguchi win as Japan dominates German Open". kyodonews.net. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Kento Momota wins historic first All England Open title". www.japantimes.co.jp. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Momota hails 'new badminton generation' after Japan double". sports.yahoo.com. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  8. ^ Palar, Sanjeev (25 August 2019). "Unbeatable Kento Momota and superb PV Sindhu clinch 2019 Badminton World Championships crown". www.olympicchannel.com. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  9. ^ Etchells, Daniel (20 October 2019). "Momota and Tai seal defence of titles at BWF Denmark Open". www.insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  10. ^ Palar, Sanjeev (15 December 2019). "Kento Momota wins 11th title of 2019 as Chen Yufei takes women's crown at World Tour Finals". www.olympicchannel.com. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  11. ^ "World No. 1 Kento Momota named BWF Player of the Year". www.japantimes.co.jp. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Vote for the champions 2019: poll now open". www.aipsmedia.com. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Kento Momota advances to Malaysia Masters semis". www.japantimes.co.jp. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  14. ^ "Momota to face Axelsen in Malaysia Masters final". www.channelnewsasia.com. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  15. ^ "Momota shows class en route to beating Axelsen in men's singles final". www.thestar.com.my. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Badminton world No. 1 Kento Momota slightly injured in crash in Malaysia; driver dies". www.japantimes.co.jp. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  17. ^ "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. 29 November 2017.
  18. ^ "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. 15 January 2018.
  19. ^ "バドミントン男子・桃田賢斗、田児賢一　賭博行為について会見" (in Japanese). 8 April 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  20. ^ "Japan ace Momota 'regrets betrayal' as possible Rio ban looms". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  21. ^ "Badminton stars Momota, Tago admit visiting illegal casinos". The Japan Times Online. 7 April 2016. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  22. ^ "Kento Momota gambles with Rio Olympic berth after casino visit". The Indian Express. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  23. ^ "Japan badminton ace Kento Momota facing Rio chop over casino visit". France 24. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  24. ^ "S'pore Open men's champ axed from tournament". TODAYonline. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  25. ^ "BWF World Rankings". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  26. ^ "Kento Momota Head to Head". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
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