Two-time world champion Kento Momota says he is retiring from international badminton at the age of 29.
The decision to hang up his racket was due to injuries he never recovered from a car accident four years ago.
Momota, who has missed out on a place at the Paris Olympics, will play for Japan for the final time at the Thomas Cup in China later this month.
He will only appear in domestic competitions in Japan following that and will not appear on the badminton World Tour.
“I have made this decision because I feel I have reached my physical and mental limits in an effort to return to being the best in the world,” said Momota.
Momota was once the undisputed king of badminton, winning 11 titles in 2019 and losing just six of the 73 matches he played that year.
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However, his life changed drastically in January 2020 when the vehicle taking him to Kuala Lumpur airport had an accident hours following he won the Malaysia Masters.
The driver was killed and Momota needed surgery to repair his fractured eye socket.
He experienced double vision and struggled to regain his best form when he returned to competition following a year out.
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He lost in the opening round at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and fell at the first hurdle in four of the first five tournaments he entered the following year.
Momota, however, ended a two-year title drought when he won the Korea Masters in November last year.
He had been targeting the Paris Olympics this summer, but his national ranking was not good enough to earn a spot on the Japanese team. He was also banned from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics selection because he gambled at an illegal casino. (AFP/Ndf)
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