Hopes of seeing former world No. 1 men’s singles badminton star Kento Momota back on court have been dashed, as the Japanese ace has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming Lin Dan Cup due to a back injury requiring surgery.
Momota was scheduled to compete in the tournament, set to take place from July 25-27 in Xian, China. However, his management agency announced that he was diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation and underwent back surgery, necessitating his withdrawal.
The news was confirmed by Chinese badminton legend Lin Dan, who founded the lucrative tournament offering a total prize purse of 850,000 yuan (approximately RM500,000). Lin Dan shared the unfortunate update on his social media page.
“Momota had to withdraw from the Lin Dan Cup due to illness,” Lin Dan stated. “I hope he can fully recover and return to court as soon as possible. I hope he can still come to Xian to meet the fans.”
Momota’s absence is a significant blow to the tournament, as he was once a dominant force in the badminton world. The 30-year-old had an extraordinary year in 2019, remarkably clinching 11 titles and suffering only six defeats in 73 matches. He also secured back-to-back world titles in 2018 (Nanjing) and 2019 (Basel).
However, his illustrious career took a drastic turn after a car accident in 2020, following his Malaysian Masters victory, which significantly impacted his performance. Momota eventually made the difficult decision to retire from professional badminton in April of last year.
Despite Momota’s withdrawal, the Lin Dan Cup will still feature a strong line-up of international players, including Thailand’s 2019 World Championship bronze medallist Kantaphon Wangcharoen, South Korea’s Cho Geon-yeop, Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen, and Japan’s Riki Takei. Malaysian representation will come from Tan Jia Jie and Cheam June Wei.