There are many stories of old enemies meeting again, and Shi Yuqi defeated Momota Kento, and his level is no longer in the same gear

The 2023 Japan Badminton Masters, which is being held in Kumamoto Prefecture, has entered the quarter-finals. On the afternoon of November 17, Beijing time, in a men's singles focus battle, two former representatives of Chinese and Japanese badminton, Shi Yuqi and Momota Kento, met again, and finally ended with Shi Yuqi winning 2-0 to advance to the semifinals.

The reason why this game can become the focus is not only because of the recent rebound in form of Kento Momota who is playing at home, it can be said that he has climbed up again from the lowest point, but also because he and Shi Yuqi have grudges in many previous duels. In the previous 11 meetings, the two sides have been very close to each other, with Momota holding a slight advantage with a 6-5 record, and this is the 12th meeting between the two sides, with one side being the host, which is naturally interesting.

At the peak of Momota's reign, 5-6 years ago, there were few opponents in men's tennis who beat him, and even Anselm, who later won the Tokyo Olympics and was in full swing, repeatedly lost to Momota Kento. At the 2018 World Championships in Nanjing, China, Shi Yuqi, who reached the final in his hometown battle, lost to Momota, missing out on the championship and has not won the World Championship so far. But at the end of that year, Shi Yuqi defeated Momota for the first time in the men's singles final of the BWF World Tour, ending a three-game losing streak against his opponent, which can be regarded as eradicating his demons. At that time, for a long time, the duel between the two players could at least be called the top collision of Asian men's singles.

Momota's decline in form stemmed from a car accident in Kuala Lumpur in 2020 and the coronavirus at the start of the Tokyo Olympics, which saw him slip rapidly in the world rankings and rarely won any of his tournament titles. Momota was out for a long time, and Shi Yuqi was also away from the field for a while due to a serious injury.

The most talked-about matchup between the two came on 16 October 2021 in the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup, where China and Japan fielded Shi Yuqi and Kento Momota respectively in the men's singles event. Shi Yuqi lost 20-22 in the first game, and in the second game, Shi Yuqi's fighting spirit decreased significantly when his physical strength was exhausted and the score was behind.

During this period, Momota's situation is not much better, the shadow of car accident injuries and diseases has always lingered, he has aged, his competitive state has declined sharply, his ranking is still declining, the game is either absent, or has to start from the qualifying round, he was optimistic about winning the men's singles championship as early as before the Rio Olympics but was banned by the Japanese Badminton Association, and he went to the Tokyo Olympics to fight on home but because of two major accidents and the glory was not there, the peak has passed, and his career is also very embarrassing.

Momota has finally overcome his demons and returned to the court, winning the low-level Korea Masters last week for the first time in two years, and until he met Shi Yuqi this time, he had won nine straight matches and gave his fans hope.

Therefore, many fans from Kumamoto, Kyushu and other parts of Japan came to cheer for Momota. However, now Momota's form can no longer be compared to Shi Yuqi, and he is completely inferior in the game. Shi Yuqi won in straight games 21-17, 21-12, representing the national feather men's singles to reach the semifinals alone.

So far, the two have met 12 times in their careers, and the two sides have won 6 games each, resulting in a draw. After the match, the two shook hands for a long time across the net, and the result of this match also made Momota Kento realize the reality that if he wants to return to the ranks of the men's singles masters, self-confidence improvement is only one aspect, and the more important thing is to restore his personal ability, but now it is very difficult for him to close to 30 years old.

Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin