Japanese men’s badminton singles top seed Momota knocked out

Men’s badminton singles prime seed and world No. 1 Kento Momota was knocked out of the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday evening, indicating yet another of Japan’s biggest stars and gold medal hopes has fallen to the wayside at these games.

Momota was ousted by unseeded South Korean Heo Kwang Hee in straight game titles (21-15, 21-19), his tournament ending with him rated next in his group and only the prime-rated player advancing to the round of 16 at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.

Japan’s Kento Momota performs in the course of his badminton singles match towards South Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee at the Tokyo Olympics on July 28, 2021, at Musashino Forest Activity Plaza. (Kyodo)

The 26-12 months-outdated two-time earth winner joins tennis star Naomi Osaka and desk tennis prodigy Tomokazu Harimoto on the outer at these game titles, all defeated substantially previously than predicted in their respective singles tournaments.

“I received off to a quite solid start, but midway via I couldn’t keep in it mentally. I couldn’t participate in with confidence,” Momota reported.

Momota skipped the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics when he was favored for gold thanks to a suspension joined to his admission of gambling in an illegal on line casino in Japan.

His opposition ban was lifted in Could 2017 and he speedily regained his type but endured a different setback when he was associated in a fatal traffic incident in January 2020 in Malaysia. He experienced facial accidents that necessary operation and was off the court docket right until late 2020.

The Tokyo Games pandemic postponement labored in his favor and allowed him time to recuperate his sort and to qualify, producing this reduction all the additional agonizing.

“If you inquire me irrespective of whether I have any regrets, I would say that I do,” Momota explained. “A ton of individuals aided me achieve this court. It was hard, but I gave it my all.”

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Momota fell but his countryman Kanta Tsuneyama progressed, the Japanese 12 seed beating Ygor Coelho of Brazil in two online games, 21-14, 21-8.

Tsuneyama capable for the men’s singles spherical of 16 by topping his group with two wins.

Earlier, Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino moved just one step closer to a Tokyo Games medal, getting the very first Japanese pair to reach the semifinals of an Olympic mixed doubles match when they despatched the 3rd seeds packing.

Dealing with the Thai pairing of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, the 2019 globe bronze medalists from Japan confirmed wonderful poise to get better from a first-video game loss to dominate proceedings in the closing two stanzas, wrapping the match 15-21, 21-16, 21-14.

Watanabe and Higashino on Thursday confront the 2nd seed pairing of Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping from China, who disposed of South Korea’s Search engine optimisation Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung 2-.

Also on Wednesday, Japanese medal contenders Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi secured team phase wins that gained them each a position in the women’s singles spherical of 16.

Okuhara, the tournament’s 3rd seed, was untroubled in using her second Group E acquire in as quite a few matches, defeating Evgeniya Kosetskaya of the Russian Olympic Committee in straight video games, 21-6, 21-16.

In the very first match of the day on court one particular, Yamaguchi steamrolled her British opponent Kirsty Gilmour 2-.

Like Okuhara, Yamaguchi set the tone early, having the initial recreation 21-9 in just 14 minutes. The Brit set up a sterner challenge in the 2nd, but the consequence was the same, 21-18.