Footwork is gone completely. There isn't even a 0.1 percent movement of the 2018-2020 Momota. I don't recognize this player. My Momota never moved from A to B. My Momota moved from A. 1 , A. 2, A. 3......and so on to B. The million micro steps in his footwork was my favorite thing in badminton since Lin Dan's 2011-2012 smash.
Agreed. The footwork just wasn't there. The shot quality just wasn't there. Heck I wish the All Defence Momota of 2018 was here. But even that wasn't there. He couldn't challenge on net at all. The very few times he managed to challenge he did score a few points. But where was the preparation? Don't you prepare for this like it means your whole life? This has been his dream since kid and it is his home soil. Why is his fitness like this? This isn't just match fitness. I don't think match fitness has this much effect. At some point I even wanted him to start his full length non-ending rally but he didn't seem to have the stamina to do this. Defense was zero! He use to take Ginting or Axelsen's smash like nothing. What the!!!!! I'm out this Olympics is over for me. I might tune in to watch Yuta but. Idk.
What an upset. I found he was the weaker player in all aspects of the game. His defense was nowhere where it used to be. His shot quality as well. His clears and lifts were awfully short. His attack was never his forte and it hasn't improved. His netplay was awful. He was much slower than he used to be. At a few occasions, I had the feeling he sees the shuttle too late - he started movement when the shuttle was already close to him. Maybe there is still something wrong with his sight. But what bothered me the most: I didn't see any fire, to me it didn't feel like as though he wanted it real bad. He seemed lethargic and to me it felt like there was fear in him. Maybe just too much pressure on him, especially after Osaka failed to advance some days ago. Maybe that moved some of the pressure which used to be on her towards Kento. And to be fair, the last year and this year must have been awful for him. Sure, he signed a lot of contracts and made loads of money, but from a sports-perspective: first the car crash, then the late diagnosis regarding his sight / eye, then he contracted COVID, no tournaments to practice and gain back his groove, then all the pressure because of the Olympics ... I am hopeful that after the pandemic, when the usual tournament circuit restarts, he will become the player he used to be very soon.
Similar story as Naomi Osaka then. Probably too much media attention/pressure and not enough training for this competition. Try again in Paris.
There is one another small thing I was well aware of but never mentioned in this thread. 2018-2020 or even the very extraordinary 2015-2016 Momota had a very lengthy, loopy swing path in all of his strokes and especially his smash was one of the Lengthiest smash in terms of motion. Part of the reason why his game was so neutralizing because his Lengthier swingpath was keeping the opponent guessing till the last moment. Have you noticed now all of his strokes including his smash has more of a shoulder- oriented vibe to it and the swing significantly compact and similar to other normal players.
I did mention that swing length here but I wasn't in favor of it as at some point I felt it was causing his smashes to be more predictible. Compared to the super short swing of Ginting which is sudden. But I get what you mean. I didn't even see this now for the good or bad. He seemed like other players and not quite short enough like Ginting. Totally different player. Maybe I underestimated what he has been through. But in my mind he would train to death for this Olympics. He has the best reaction time. But today - well he was like Oktavianti
But the lengthier path was the reason for his nuclear body smash. He clocked 418kmph against Sugiarto on a body smash at 2019 Denmark Open. He clocked another 400 plus against Chen Long in the final of that tournament.
He's positive with Covid. Sad for Momota 1 But sad for Japan's team 2 Momota cannot be "ACE" for the team anymore. Still have Thomas/Uber Cup and Sudirman cup and World Champion this year.
Yes agreed. But even that wasn't here. Nothing turned up. I mean we are not talking about a match against Viktor or Ginting or SYQ.
I once observed the effect of a stressful (just a competive match) non life-threating situation, and I was totally surprised at the sudden lose of energy in this person and clear signs of sickness afterwards. The burden on these top seeded athletes playing on homeground must be enormously. So, I can't really blame momota at all, eventually these are just human athletes who want to reach some life-dream , but the modern media coverage and pressure must be like playing a second game of hell. If you can't beat both games you can't win the olympics, which should not be the 'spirit' of the olympics.
Yes but whether it is his mental or physical condition. The coaches should have been able to do something about it. Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhh. I don't even know who I want to win now.
No i meant in MS. For others I still have 2 Yuta's and 1 Okuhara. And possibly 1 Yuji Nishida in Voleyball because Haikyuu. But for me Tokyo 2020 = Momota @terrynguyen121988 are you sure there are no team events for badminton in the Olympics?
