来源:ddxxll2008
Kento Momota is sure to retire
When I heard the news, I felt like I was in a trance.
Although he has rarely seen Kento Momota on the world stage in recent years, he always feels that he will come back, just like he did back then.
But now, the time for retirement has finally come.
It's like a dream, and it's finally time to wake up
This should have been a perfect script for a genius boy to go astray and return after hardships, but it was interrupted by natural and man-made disasters, leaving fans with infinite reverie.
He should have been the most promising to attack Chen Long's results and achieve a grand slam in personal honors, but he was teased by fate and repeatedly hit a wall in the Olympics.
His name, KENTO, comes from Superman, who was invincible in the arena but suffered major changes outside the arena, and he was not defeated by his opponents, but he was defeated by accidents.
He is another super-first-class men's singles after Lin Chen, and he has won eleven championships a year. obviously conquered an era, but his strength was always questioned.
In 2019, when Momota was at its peak, I wrote an article at that time - "Lucky and Lonely Momota Kento". It was mentioned that he was lucky that he didn't have any super-first-class players in his prime. But he's also lonely, lacking the backdrop of super-top players, which calls into question his dominance.
A few years later, when Axelsen played a dominant position, people couldn't help but ask, who was stronger at his peak, Axelsen or Momota Kento? Axelsen was so strong, why did he lose to Momota Kento 14 times in a row? If Momota hadn't suffered a car accident, would the era of Axelsen still come?
It's a pity that all these questions, with Momota's retirement, there is no way to answer them.
The first time I heard about Momota was at the 2015 BWF Finals, when he played against Axelsen, and everyone was unanimously optimistic that Axelsen would win, but the small Momota beat Axelsen and finally won the finals. At that time, I thought that this person would win a medal at the Rio Olympics next year.
As a result, the news of Kenichi Tian and Kento Momota suddenly broke out, and both of them were banned indefinitely. I was shocked to hear the news. At that time, he was ranked second in the world, won a bronze medal at the World Championships, and won the year-end finals. Although Lin Dan, Chen Long, and Lee Chong Wei were still strong contenders for the title at the time, Momota Kento wanted to win an Olympic medal was by no means a dream.
However, the truth is so cruel that Momota did not escape punishment because of his outstanding strength, and missed the Rio Olympics in an indefinite ban. In the bronze medal battle of the Olympic Games, Momota's subordinate defeated Axelsen to win the bronze medal against Lin Dan, which makes people sigh: If Momota is not banned, then this bronze medal is likely to be Momota's.
When Momota Kento came back from the ban, people found that he had lost his arrogance and became humble and low-key. After that, Momota Kento's results also soared to the sky and was unstoppable. A series of consecutive victories allowed him to grow rapidly in points, to the top of the world, and even won the world championship in 18 and 19 years. The most shocking thing is that he won 11 titles in 2019, breaking the previous record of 10 titles a year for Lee Chong Wei and becoming the badminton player with the most championships in a year.
When it comes to the time of the ban, people will always say that the ban made Momota more calm, which led to a transformation. But in my opinion, Momota's evolution has nothing to do with the ban, and this ban is a pure waste of Momota's peak time. Originally, he should have stood on top of the world earlier and created his own legendary story. But because of the two-year ban, it was delayed. Especially after missing the Rio Olympics, perhaps fate has already hinted in the dark that Momota Kento is destined to be incompatible with the Olympics in his life.
In that era that belonged to Kento Momota, he took his stability to the extreme. With a fast hand and a high-quality net in a low position, it is a nightmare for all opponents, and it can be said that with this technique alone, he has gained a huge upper hand in the duel with Axelsen.
But that's not the way Momota played, and there were two games that I think had an impact on him. One was the 2018 Tang Cup final against Chen Long, although he won, but he won the thrill. Since then, Momota has changed his youthful net-control and attacking style to concentrate on playing and lobbing.
The other was the final of the 2018 China Open against Ginting, which made Momota know that he was not too sure of his key points, so he would try to build a lead of about 5 points in the early stages of the match, and then he could use his super consistency to drag down his opponent and win the match. This is also the secret of Momota's strong endurance and ability to win consecutive championships.
During that time, the only one who could pose a little threat to Momota was Shi Yuqi. However, with Shi Yuqi injured, this last bit of threat is gone. The men's singles in the world seems to have come to an end, and the men's singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics is basically in Momota's pocket. At that time, fans were already looking forward to when Kento Momota would surpass Chen's honor.
However, when there are no accidents, accidents may happen.
Just after Momota was in full swing and won the 2020 Malaysia Masters, an accident happened. At the time, people talked about the car accident and thought it would have an impact on Momota's state. The Olympics were just around the corner, and the accident cast a shadow over Momota's Olympic journey. But no one would have imagined that this would be a watershed moment in Momota's career, and from then on, the invincible and omnipotent Momota Kento disappeared.
The initial examination did not cause much damage to the car accident, but after Momota returned, he found that he had double vision, and it was only after another examination that he found that his eye socket was fractured. During the time spent recovering from the surgery, Momota returned to his hometown to recuperate. During that time he was completely unable to exercise, which had a big impact on his form.
But his passion for badminton has not waned, and he has been preparing to return to the game. Every time he walks in his hometown, he passes by a stone monument that advances, and Momota smiles and says that he doesn't want this to happen, but now he can only move forward.
Later, the epidemic led to the suspension of the event, and the Tokyo Olympics were forced to be postponed for a year. At the time, I thought maybe it would be a good thing for Momota, as he had more time to recover and adjust. But despite all his efforts, fate still played a huge joke with Kento Momota. It was on the eve of the Olympics again, and it was about the same time as the car accident, and Kento Momota was infected with the new coronavirus.
After the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics, Kento Momota lost to Heo Yoon-hee. It was definitely a big upset at the time, although watching the game knew that the defeat was not unexpected. Momota's overlay prevented him from establishing an early advantage, and he struggled to withstand the final crucial point when it came to the final battle.
I also fantasized that if the Olympics had not been postponed for a year, the outcome would have been different. But such assumptions can only exist in dreams. Obviously he is strong enough, but why would fate play such a joke and let him suffer such a defeat in his homeland.
At the time, it was widely believed that it was just a loss, and Momota was still strong and that he would return to the top level sooner or later. I also have this optimistic view, after all, he is Kento Momota, he has such great stability, and his style of play on the ball does not seem to be physically taxing. As long as he adjusts himself, he will definitely come back.
However, the development of the plot after that exceeded everyone's expectations, Momota Kento, a former super-first-class player, fell off a cliff, and could only play some good shots in a few games occasionally, and the rest of the time was basically in the first and second rounds. This is the fate that the world's No. 1 needs to bear, whether it is Lin Dan, or Chen Long, or Momota Kento, Axelsen. As dominant athletes grow old, the younger generation of athletes will inevitably go all out to build confidence. Therefore, they tend to play more difficult games in the later games, but it is rare to see someone like Momota who declines so quickly. It's widely believed that Momota couldn't support his style of play because of the car accident and the coronavirus, but I always felt that he would come back because he still loves badminton.
After that, Momota Kento was silent for a while, and when he saw his news again, he actually won the All-Japan Championship again, becoming the six-time champion of the All-Japan Championship. After that, he won the Korea Masters, breaking the 721-day championship drought. Just when I was still fantasizing about Momota being able to rise again, he lost to Shi Yuqi at the Kumamoto Masters, and he didn't have enough points to compete at the top level and couldn't compete in the Paris Olympics.
Fate likes to play pranks, and Shi Yuqi and Antonsen, who were defeated by Momota in the World Championships finals that year, are getting better and better this year. Who would have thought that Kento Momota, who defeated them, was about to retire. Momota is only 30 years old this year, so it stands to reason that he can continue to compete in the ring. His passion for badminton is still there, but his body is no longer able to support it. It's better to just turn around and leave than to struggle with support at a lower level.
Humane Luoyang flowers are like flowers, and I don't meet spring when I come. When heaven and earth come together, the heroes are not free. Momota Kento was born in a good era, Lin Li Chen grew old one after another, and he carried the banner of the men's singles era and became a leader. But he is also sad, he has won many honors, but he has failed in the most important hometown Olympics.
If you ask me why I like Kento Momota, I'll tell you that I like his style of play. His sling-and-control style of play is not flashy, but it is solid, it is not showy, but it is practical, and the epee has no edge, and he has inadvertently established a leading edge. Some people will criticize this style of play, saying that it is not ornamental and not violent enough.
However, anyone who has actually played badminton knows the gold content of this type of control play. Being able to hit every ball to the position you want in a fierce confrontation is a reflection of stronger strength in itself. Momota's consistency is his strongest talent, and his defensive prowess is so good that it will be very difficult to get a win against him.
If you ask me why I like Kento Momota, I'll tell you that I love him. Whether it was a ban or an injury, it didn't break Momota's love for badminton. During the time he returned from a ban, his touch in front of the net amazed everyone, so much so that no one wanted to grapple with him in front of the net in the later stages. From here, it can be seen that Momota did not lose his skills during the ban, but instead trained hard. Even at the end of his career, when victory was already hard to come by, Momota still loved the game.
If you ask me why I like Kento Momota, I'll tell you that I love his story. The genius boy went astray, regained his strength after hardships, climbed to the top to dominate the feather arena, fell into the abyss in a car accident, never gave up fighting against fate, and turned away with all his might. What a story of ups and downs, so many terrible setbacks, so many unyielding struggles all happened to him alone, and made his career legendary.
Why do you like Kento Momota? Maybe there are many, many reasons. We go to watch a game and chase a star, in fact, we see ourselves from others, we can see our own shadow from him, we can see our own struggle, we can see our own helplessness, and we hope that we can be as brilliant as him. Life is short, and I haven't experienced much when I'm young, but after watching Momota Kento's career, I can feel that life is not easy.
A smooth life is lucky, and it is also very rare. More of us have lived a life of resistance to fate, maybe there are so few lucky people among us who can stand at the top like Momota and enjoy the glory, but the vast majority of people are still unknown and floating in the sea of people. When you encounter setbacks, think about what Momota has suffered and feel that it may not be so bad, when you lose motivation, think about the efforts that Momota has made to encourage yourself to continue on the road, when you are ordinary, look at the glory that Momota has received and think about when I can get it, when you can't ask for it, think about Momota turning away and admonish yourself not to be too persistent, no matter what, just have a clear conscience.
Perhaps this is the end of the story of Kento Momota, who is destined to leave his own legend in the history of badminton. When someone mentions him in the future, what is their first reaction? I think it's a pity. He has the strength and ambition, and he should have received more honors, but he left regrets and a lot of controversy for the fans because of the accident. This is the end of Kento Momota's career, and there is nothing to regret if you do your best. Maybe we'll be able to see Momota on the pitch in the future, but I don't know what it was like then.
When he was a young man, he lived up to his youth. If the spring breeze is merciful, can I be allowed to be young again?