Kento Momota (new thread)

Quentin11 said:
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.
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Support the underdogs. Any underdog except my countryman.
 
Momota was pretty defensive today. I hope it's not his car accident from last year, or catching covid this year, that impacted him in this Olympics. Something was not right when Momota lost at the AE this year.

I think for players like Momota, he needs to constantly be on the Super Series circuit to maintain his game and consistency, especially if he likes this defensive style. Momota's best attributes are his net shots, his defense, his consistency, and his anticipation (look at how Momota always anticipate Viktor in their matches). By not playing regularly on the Super Series circuit (I guess it's 300+ level tournaments now?), Momota was not in his best form.

This is why LD was so impressive when he took a year off badminton, and then came in and won the WC in 2013. Unfortunately, Momota is not LD. Assuming the car accident and catching covid did not hinder Momota today, I think it's Momota's lack of participation in high level international tournaments that made him so rusty and out of form for this Olympics. Credit also goes to Heo Kwanghee, but I don't think Heo would have beat an "in form" Momota from 2019.
 
Momota seemed to be surprised with how good his opponent was today.

I disagree that his footwork is different or somehow worse as some claim here.

But he was a bit off today. It happens. Hope he wins the next one.
 
CzechKronner said:
Momota seemed to be surprised with how good his opponent was today.

I disagree that his footwork is different or somehow worse as some claim here.

But he was a bit off today. It happens. Hope he wins the next one.
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But related to footwork is "anticipation." You can shuffle/run faster than me in badminton, but if I anticipate the shot faster than you, even if my footwork is slower than your footwork, I can get to the shuttle at the same time that you get there. Momota is the king of anticipation against certain players - Momota can read Viktor Axelsen like a book, and that's why Viktor Axelsen has never beaten Momota, not even once.

I think Momota's time away from top level international tournaments has dulled his overall form, including his anticipation. Momota's consistency wasn't there as well, another possible side effect of being away from top level international tournaments.
 
galaxyduo said:
But related to footwork is "anticipation." You can shuffle/run faster than me in badminton, but if I anticipate the shot faster than you, even if my footwork is slower than your footwork, I can get to the shuttle at the same time that you get there. Momota is the king of anticipation against certain players - Momota can read Viktor Axelsen like a book, and that's why Viktor Axelsen has never beaten Momota, not even once.

I think Momota's time away from top level international tournaments has dulled his overall form, including his anticipation. Momota's consistency wasn't there as well, another possible side effect of being away from top level international tournaments.
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Yeah he was surprised by some of the attacking shots. He hasn't played a big tournament in a long time, except for 3 games at AE.

I think he's just unlucky with what happened to him since January 2020. He'll bounce back and be back on top within a few months. Still a lot to play for this year.
 
Wow...what a monumental upset. It seemed like he was fighting to not lose instead of fighting to win.

I'm postulating that the absence of home crowd cheering/support would have significantly affected him and Osaka. There's no crowd energy from the venue that they can harness and they have all the heavy expectations of the home country. Talk about home ground disadvantage!

Somehow they're unable to control the adrenaline and mental pressure from the gravity of the situation. Kinda like how some people react in the fight/flight/freeze response. Unfortunately it was the freeze response this time for Momota.

Likewise I'm also seeing these nervous jitters from Yuta and Arisa (and Matsumoto and Nagahara) where they make these very uncharacteristic unforced errors. It would seem that the JAP team does not have a sports psychologist on board.

These pandemic games are sure strange indeed...

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Momota-san comments on twitter:

結果は本当に悔しい形になってしまいました。
ただ今まで本当に辛い時も支えてくれた方々や、応援してくれている皆さんのおかげで憧れの舞台に立つことができたことに感謝しかないです。
この東京五輪という舞台で人生において貴重な経験をすることができました。
応援本当にありがとうございました。


The result is really disappointing.
However, I am only grateful that I was able to stand on the stage I longed for thanks to the people who supported me even when it was really hard and everyone who supported me.
I had a valuable experience in my life on the stage of the Tokyo Olympics.
Thank you very much for your support.
 
terrynguyen121988 said:
just sleep my friend. I know you love him much. Olympic is end for Momota but still have other tournaments ahead
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I hope the international tournament starts fast. Badminton should also start like all other sports.

Going to sleep early and wake up tomorrow at 4a.m. for WataHiga :):rolleyes:
 
Momota never reached an international final after the car accident in Malaysia and only played one international tournament - that was this year at AE when he lost for the first time to Zia in QF. He now lost in the first round in the Olympics, to an unseeded player who he had beaten 3 times before.

I think it'd be hard to re-discover his old form and maybe next year if he plays in many tournaments we would see if can come back to his pre-accident level. Otherwise he is a goner.

I saw the match highlights on Youtube. The Korean player won so many net exchanges that forced Kento to lift and then the Korean just smashed from the back for winners, which Kento is known to get back against smashes. But he was very poor at the net which forced him to lift many times, and then couldn't able to defend against the ensuing smashes.
 
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To me, the only reason why Momota tanked today in the R16 to Heo Kwang Hee and it could've been any other opponent, for that matter, thereby ending his quest at the Tokyo Olympics, is simply lack of mental strength just when it mattered most in the biggest tournament of his career so far. And, yes, I'm afraid it would probably continue to haunt him going forward at any major events , regardless individual or team world championships.

Well, his past two world titles (and one All-England championship, if you like) are history; as they say, past performance is no guarantee of future results. The next Olympics, Paris 2024, is three years away, by then he will be 29 years of age, I shan't indulge in speculations, too early for that (think Covid-19, his being banned for the Rio'16 OG, the vehicle accident in Malaysia. Heaven forbid!).

Therefore, all those talks about his physical condition post-accident recovery, that is after-effects (which the man himself denied affected him - he would've been ready even if Tokyo 2020 wasn't postponed as he was reported to have said before), the technical aspects of his game (whatever we argued might be missing or have fallen short though most of us all agree , at his best, he is still the most formidable and fearsome opponent the last couple of years), his consistency or lack thereof, the dearth of international world-class tournaments to play during the global pandemic (for which every player is in the same boat, more or less), the what-ifs, the would-haves, could-haves, should-haves, etc, - all miss the point. Period.

In other words, he became his own worst enemy, proverbially speaking. By the way, homeground advantage is a double-edged sword, it varies individually. To make matters worse, his unfancied opponent of the day actually played above himself.

On another note, it made Lin Dan's all-conquering victory at the Beijing'08 Olympics all the more remarkable taking into account his previous Round 1 debacle at Athens'04 four years earlier at the young age of 20 in his debut Olympic performance and the rest is history, a testament to his exceptional mental strength, tremendous willpower, dogged determination, and the kind of self-confidence that was often described (mistakenly, in my view) as swagger.
 
Justin L said:
On another note, it made Lin Dan's all-conquering victory at the Beijing'08 Olympics all the more remarkable taking into account his previous Round 1 debacle at Athens'04 four years earlier at the young age of 20.
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You sure this was just your “another note” here. It is hard to believe so


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