In the Tokyo Olympic cycle, Momota Kendou ruled the badminton men's singles for more than 3 years, and he played invincible players all over the world for a long time, often limiting the single score of other TOP10 to 10 points. At that time, even Chinese fans agreed that Momota Kendou's dominance was not even inferior to Lin Dan at his peak, and that winning the Tokyo Olympics was a foregone conclusion.
However, on January 3, 2021, Momota Kendou was diagnosed with the new crown, and the sequelae of the new crown at that time were still relatively large. Sure enough, after recovering from his illness, his physical strength plummeted, his crazy footsteps became sluggish, and his grades plummeted. At the Tokyo Olympics, he was eliminated from the group stage and has since gradually become a second-rate player, no longer a favorite to win in any event.
Coming to the Asian Championships, Momota Kendou, who still ranks second in the world, is not optimistic, but few people can imagine that he fell in the first round. On April 27, in the first round of the Asian Championship, Momota Kendou faced Indonesia's Ziko, who is ranked 52nd in the world, and was reversed 1-2. In the decider, he was beaten 7-21 – the after-effects of the new crown did compress his physical ceiling very low.
In this match, Momota Kendou's performance in the first set was normal, winning 21-17. However, by the second half of the second set, it was clear that his physical strength was close to the limit, and he was equalized by his opponents at 17-21. As long as the decider was reached, Momota Kendou had almost no chance of winning, and sure enough, he lost 7-21 and handed over the victory of the whole game.
Such an ending is a lament, but also a round of applause for his persistence in the decider. I still remember last year's French Open, when he played against teammate Tokiyama Kanta in the semifinals, he chose to retire halfway through the game, and he breathlessly said: I am too tired to play. For him, the impact of the new crown infection is too great, and it is not easy for him to continue to play.
Perhaps, at this point in time, after assessing Momota Kendou's physical condition, it is basically possible to summarize his career. Born in 1994, this badminton genius has a great tragedy in his sporting career:
He is Japan's first All England, World Championships, world number one men's singles player, and the first non-Chinese player to win the World Championship. After his rise in 2014, he was considered a favorite to win the Rio Olympics, but was disqualified from the Olympic Games by the Japanese delegation because of gambling.
From 2017 to 2019, he created his own prosperous world, and was praised as "where there are new four heavenly kings in the feather temple, it is clear that Momota Kendou is a person's jianghu". However, close to the Olympic Games, he first had a car accident during the Malaysian competition in early 2020, and after the postponement of the Olympic Games, he was infected with the new crown in January 2021, which directly led to the decline of the state, and the men's singles gold medal that was originally considered to have his name engraved in advance fell aside.
Today, his physical function has been damaged, and he is unlikely to return to the peak, leaving only the short and brilliant era of 2017-2019. Of course, some fans who love him firmly believe that he still has the world's top level, and at the moment there is a psychological problem. I will not comment on this.
——Pay attention to the small fish and feel the temperature of sports!