The problem is not just moving to the fore court but also going backwards and thundering down the finisher. Players are lifting way too much to him.
More on PJB's take on Momota, according to Badminton Spirit: Q. In what respect do you think that Momota has not been able to regain his form? PJB: Momota's offensive play is still weak; even at the AE, he scored few points through aggressive play. And his defence, too, is not up to its former level. Amongst his current rivals, such as Lee Zii Jia and the new World Champion, Loh Kean Yew, there are many attacking players. Previously, Indonesia's Ginting, too, was an attacking player; however, as he is small-framed, it was possible to advantageously carry the match over into the second half. The current batch of aggressive players have a stronger attack, are younger and more physical. For Momota, it will come down to how well he can defend. However, the more matches he plays, the more likely he will be to regain his rhythm and level of performance.
Momota might have to re train his eye vision. Although he is good in everything, like racket handling, footwork, tactical, speed, power etc ... but I think unconsciously, he also had very fast eye movements before the accident. Looks minor but it can give him extra advantage over opponents. Although recovered from surgery, and good enough for everyday living, but in a fast sport like badminton, minor things like slow eye movements can sabotage his games.
Yes agree 100%. He had a right forehead concussion with right orbital floor fracture, indicating significant injury to his right eye. Sent from my SM-G988W using Tapatalk
7-21 in the third. Maybe he should hang it up. It seems like the last grains of comeback-willpower went to his Indonesia performances.
Yep, it is over. Momota should seriously contemplate retirement before the downward trajectory becomes sadder and sadder. I get the impression that he was going to retire after the Tokyo Olympics in any event, but that something stopped him. It has come to the stage where I really wish that @kwun would have made the effort to restore Momota's original thread, because his 'glory days' and history are to be found there.
that would be good, he can devote more time to his yt channel. been waiting for him to recover his pride after the olympics and post more videos. honestly watching him getting haircut and furniture shopping is more interesting than his recent badminton endeavours.
Just saw the result, Momota had fitness problems in the 3rd set (not only in this match). He should consider switching to a new lighter racquet, or reducing the net tension of 33x35. 99 Pro - 3U was not the smart choice after car accident. Look back to the match he lost in All England and Denmark Open. He was out of gas and lost so fast.
The irony of this. At his peak, in the 3rd game vs Shi Yuqi. You could put your house on Momo winning it. I'm not writing him off yet, give him time...Maybe he does need to go back to lower tournaments and just learn how to win again.
What's puzzling me is the massive decline post Indonesia 750. He had Axelsen where he wanted in Denmark and won Indonesia comfortably. I would have bet my house on him getting back to his best then. There is simply no reason for him to lack confidence. He has shown - post comeback - that he can still do it. The only reason(s) for a lack of confidence I can see are he knows Covid has damaged him way more than he lets on his injuries in Paris and Indonesia 1000 were/are more severe than we know he doesn't have the fight in him anymore to battle it out, which leads to bad performances Personally, I'm afraid it's the latter one.
Everything was fine until the deciding game. He didn't have enough stamina to chase his opponent. I don't know why he's chosen 3U - 99 Pro racket, along with 33x35 tension. He was out of gas even he didn't smash a lot in compare with his opponent. His defense was slow because the racket was too heavy.
So what you are saying is that with a custom made Arcsaber Flashboost in 8U Momota will be back to his best in no time?
But why? He is one of the greatest athletes of Japan. He has two World Championships under his belt. It's not like he can't access to YouTube and type " Kento Momota 2018-19 highlights " Or " 2015-16 momota Superman smash" and select 1080 p quality in settings to confirm his potential. All the pedigree and the talent is there in him.
Lots of players are in slumps right now, even current/former #1s if that’s any consolation to anyone. Zheng Siwei for example. Chen Long and Shi Yuqi haven’t made an appearance in forever. Still time to build confidence for the next major which imo is the Worlds in Tokyo.
Astrox 99 Pro 4u, or tension of 28x30 I don't say he can be back to his best but I believe he can enough stamina for deciding game. (he didn't smash to take point, right ??? so why choose tension of 33x35 ? Even Lee Zii Jia with his big arm, was choose tension of 31 lbs. And Yamaguchi can play at 24x26 lbs
I've been feeling it for a long time but I don't think we'll ever see peak Momota ever again. He used to be aggressive, hungry and move with a purpose but I haven't seen any of that for years now. I've long accepted the fact that this is the case, but of course I would be happy for him to prove me wrong.
That’s what quite puzzles me too. Later part of Denmark open, and Indonesia 750 gave ample amount of reaffirmation that KM is back. Now everybody seems to have forgotten that, and talking like KM hasn’t gotten any better since the accident. Here are my speculations on why that form didn’t carry forward: — That performance came back at the back of not-so-great outings in TC, and SC. But, more importantly, he got his confidence back to play those crunch situations in big matches in the tournaments. He does have a little history of starting rusty after a break, and then finding his groove later in the season. However, the 2022 season has been having start n stop tournaments so far (coupled with Covid related schedule changes), which hasn’t helped him to regain his touch/confidence. — Like you mentioned, his injury after Indonesia 750 is worse than what we know. Possible! — In 2022, he kinda switched from attack-at-the-right-opportunity game to rally-to-death game, which we see isn’t doing him any favor. I quite don’t know if that was a conscious decision, or he was forced to do due to some limitations in the form of injuries or so. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
