Kento won a Super 750 less than 6 months ago and people are saying he should retire must be the same people who said LCW should've retired when he did poorly after coming back from his doping suspension.
I wonder how he will do in the Thomas Cup? I’m afraid if he doesnt perform well there too, he might actually leave, i hope not though!
Winning narrowly against ChokeLord KS, that too after KS pulled out the ChokeSaber must have prompted KM onto contemplating on the meaning of life.
Looking at the playing conditions in BAC, maybe we should not look too much into this result. Might not really be his fault.
Momota's post-match comment, as published in Badminton Spirit: I lost today, because I was unable to tolerate the drift and wind in the venue. It was not so much my opponent's game, as my appalling performance. Today, I will search for areas that need to be reflected upon, and make it count next time around. ----- Incidentally, Yamaguchi, too, commented that the air-conditioning was impacting the game, and that control was proving difficult.
But impact will be for both the players. Considering his experience , I never expected him to say that it is not about opponent's game . Actually, momota could not defend the smashes at all. I would still say that his anticipation, his control, his defense , his movement everything need to be reshaped.
That’s exactly what he meant. He basically was admitting that his performance was so poor that it was no longer about how well the opponent was playing.
The sad fact is that Yamaguchi, Fukushima, Hirota, and Matsuyama all echo the same sentiment vis-à-vis the heat and air-conditioning, but they all managed to win their matches. I agree that the issue is far more problematic. You rightly point out that Momota's anticipation, control, defence, and movement are sub-par. Inextricably intertwined with this, there are issues such as confidence and, possibly, patience, and pride (being WR No. 1 meant so much to him). It is a self-perpetuating, vicious circle, which is going to hit somebody who was at the pinnacle of the game hard. Is there a way out of the rut?
Some players are more sensitive to circumstances of environment than others. Also depends on their own internal conditions at that moment. You might be in a period of your life when you feel easily depressed and your tolerance level is low. Some players are more used to playing in windy conditions than others. The conditions at BAC is certainly not a normal condition for Badminton especially for those who are using rackets that are stringed with very high tension. The moment your racket touch the shuttle, it is up to the wind to carry the shuttle. Maybe, in such a condition, players should lower the tension a little. Then instead of letting the racket do most of the work, you can use the power of your arms, body and wrist to drive the shuttle through the wind and let the wind do the work. In such a condition, lower rank players will play more freely because it is like they have nothing to loose.
Could it be his age too? He and Axelsen are a fair bit older than the rest of the players. The next closest is LZJ,Weng Hongyang and LKY who are at least 3 years younger which is a lot for an athlete. Then the next batch of Lakshya,Kunlavut and Li Shifeng are even younger. It's hard to keep up physically after a certain point. Sent from my SM-A307GN using Tapatalk
Just saying that Momota was THE player with the ability to control these kind of varying drifts etc. Now this has become a reason for him to lose.
King Momota will be back to rule. Form is temporary; class is permanent! People here are so quick to dismiss him. Momota is a tough one!
HAHAHA thats the spirit!!! I pray for Momota. I have pulled off some insane shots from watching his matches on Youtube
Really need to change a coach. Momota's success ensured Nakanishi's chair for long time. We need something new.
Even I wanted to say that but I dont know if I say that , it might offend somebody's feelings. That's why , I did not post it . His coach is doing nothing. I can clearly see that coach has some hesitation in saying certain things to Momota as he was already of a certain level. So, for now, Momota needs a task master who make him work more. There is a proverb in one of oldest language in the world Tamil, " Adiyadha madu padiyadhu" , this literally means Unless you beat the cow, it wont obey you. This was written some 1000 years back. So, he needs only tasks . Get a task master and let him give Momota a schedule to work his inefficiencies. This is the only way.
If Lee come to teach, not only Momota but also Nishimoto could improve more. I always hope Taufik or Lee Chong Wei can teach Nishimoto.
