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KENTO MOMOTA : FROM GAMBLING SCANDAL AND SUSPENSION TO WORLD NO. 1 BADMINTON PLAYER

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The world’s top male badminton player, Kento Momota, was involved in a car accident in Malaysia  early this Monday (Jan 13). The accident resulted in the driver of the van carrying the Japanese shuttler and three others being killed.

The incident has cast a pall over Momota’s celebrations after he had captured the Malaysia Masters title with ease  on Sunday, when he beat Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 24-22, 21-11.

It remains to be seen if the accident will affect his preparations for the upcoming Olympics, where he is bidding to win a first gold at his home Games.

Here are five things to know about Momota:

1. He was born on Sept 1, 1994 in Mitoyo, in Japan’s Kagawa prefecture.

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2. He owns two World Championships, with his victory over Denmark’s Anders Antonsen last August making him only the fourth male player to win back-to-back world titles. That honour roll was previously occupied only by Chinese players – Yang Yang, Lin Dan and Chen Long.

3. He is also a two-time Asian champion and last year became the first Japanese man to win the prestigious All England Open.

4. Citing their longevity at the summit of the sport, his idols are Chinese legend Lin and Malaysian icon Lee Chong Wei. Last year, Momota told The Straits Times:

“I, too, would like to remain No. 1 for a prolonged period. Of course, I feel the pressure of being No. 1 sometimes. But I’m trying not to think so much about it because that can be crippling. I’d rather focus on my game.”

5. In April 2016, just four months before the Rio Olympics and when he was ranked second in the world, he was banned “indefinitely” by the Nippon Badminton Association after admitting to visiting an illegal casino, a crime punishable by imprisonment in Japan. He was also removed from the world rankings.

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By the time he returned to competition in July 2017, he was world No. 282 and had to fight his way back playing in the lowly Challenger circuit to earn enough points to gain entry into the bigger tournaments. He called it the “darkest period of my

6. But during his suspension, the 1.75m-tall player retrained his focus and worked hard on physical conditioning and court control.

7. He is a two-time champion of the Singapore Open, though it remains to be seen if he will return this year to defend his title. The tournament takes place from April 7-12 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

8. Last year, he claimed a record 11 tour titles.

9. His stellar 2019 saw him become the first male badminton player to earn US$500,000 (S$673,000) in a calendar year. Momota made US$120,000 from winning the lucrative HSBC BWF World Tour Finals. He also claimed two Super 1000 events (All England and China Opens), three Super 750 events (Japan Open, Denmark Open, Fuzhou China Open) two Super 500 (Singapore Open, Korea Open) and one Super 300 (German Open) title.

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10. The left-hander is known for his ability to manipulate his opponents in long rallies and explosive movements on court.

-Strait Times

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Badminton chieftain, Orbih dreams of ‘born-again’ Lagos International Badminton Classic

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BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU

The Lagos International Badminton Classics may from the next edition step up to the next level with a reinvigorated government-private partnership initiative.

President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) Francis Orbih believes that the governments at all levels cannot fund sports alone and if sports need to develop the private sector also has a role to play in its development in the country.

Orbih made the call on Saturday while addressing newsmen during the closing ceremony of the 7th edition of the Lagos Badminton Classics which took place at the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall inside the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

“Nigeria players need more encouragement and support because you know it will be difficult for most of these players to travel out for this kind of championships.

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“And that is why we try to make this event an annual event so that they can have that opportunity to play the game at this level” Orbih hinted.

“They need the exposure because without it, there is a limit to what you can do so we have to challenge them, and to whom much is given, much is expected, and it is the much we can give to them that determines the much we expect from them”.

“In giving this much, we need the private sector for sports to grow and develop because the government cannot do it alone” Orbih emphasized.

On the just concluded 7th edition of the tournament Orbih noted that the championship has lived up to his expectations even though the Federation can do better, and one practice which they have adopted is to surpass the performance of the previous edition while hosting a current edition.

He further added that Nigeria had a good outing as we reached some semifinals in some categories while the mixed doubles reached the finals.

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“For the men’s singles, our number one player was edged out in the quarterfinal, and it was at this same level in last year’s edition that he was edged out”. “We thought he would have improved this year and reach the final but that was not possible but I am expecting that we will improve on his performance in the next edition” an optimistic Orbih added

Orbih did not fail to remind all that Opeyori’s rise to stardom in Nigeria and Africa as whole was a journey that started so many years ago and so much need to be done if the younger ones have to rise to his level in the future.

 “A lot of people who see Opeyori today think he just got to this level over night”. “They do not know what he has gone through to become Africa’s number one. We as a federation need to go back to the age-grade tournament at the U12, U15 and U17 level so we can start preparing them with lots of exposure to attain his level”. “There is no magic and there is no short cut and if we need to get more players like Opeyori, we need to invest more at the age-grade level and that is it”.

He also did not fail to state that Opeyori started the Lagos Badminton Classics from its first edition in 2014 and it was his exposure over the years through the event and other championships that gave him the experience needed which made him qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

On India’s domination of the Lagos Badminton Classics, Orbih noted that India is a powerhouse as far as badminton is concerned and it is because this tournament has a lot of world ranking players that makes it good for Nigerian players to take part in it so that they can also acquire exposure too.

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It’s Indian delight at Lagos International Badminton Classic

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The duo of Kanapuram Sathwik Reddy and Khadkekarr Vaishnavi

BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU

The Indians are having a swell time at the Lagos International Badminton Classic.

Not only did an Indian player, Samarveer responsible for Nigeria’s Anuoluwapo Opeyori’s ouster at the quarter-finals, the Indians have won the mixed doubles beating a Nigerian pair.

They were delighted at the relative ease of their accomplishment.

The duo of Kanapuram Sathwik Reddy and Khadkekarr Vaishnavi  expressed their shock on how easy it was for them to beat Nigeria’s duo of Shehu, Alhaji Aliyu and Ukeh, Uchechukwu Deborah in the finals of the mixed doubles on home ground.

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The game which was played on court two of the Sir Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall on Saturday, saw the Indians record two straight wins against Nigeria to win 2-0 (21-12,21-14).

Speaking after the win, both players who were overjoyed about their wins expressed themselves.

“It’s my first time of playing in Nigeria” Reddy started “And am glad this game ended very well, we are happy to win and we never expected it would come this easy”

“When we reached the final and were going to play Nigeria we thought it was going to be very tough because of the home crowd, but it was not” he said.

Adding her voice a delighted Vaishnavi also appreciated the warm reception given by the host country in organizing the tournament.

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“I am happy with the environment and reception here, the atmosphere is peaceful and the people are very nice, we feel very happy winning” she concluded.

The Indians who have dominated the finals of the doubles in previous editions edged Nigeria’s side to win the mixed doubles.

It will also be recalled that Nigeria’s duo of Shehu Alhaji Aliyu and Ukeh, Uchechukwu Deborah reached the finals of this edition without lifting their racket, as they walked over their French opponents who were ruled out due to arm injury.

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India Stops Nigeria From Reaching Final of Women’s Doubles

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BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU

Nigeria’s duo of Dorcas Ajoke and Ilori Aminat on Friday failed to reach the final of the women’s doubles of the Lagos Badminton Classic at the  Molade Okoya Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium.

The duo suffered two straight defeats at the hands of India’s Singhi Simran and Selvan Kavipriya who defied the slim efforts made by the home fans to cheer the Nigerian sides to victory.

The game which was played on court 2 was however slightly disrupted by power supply barely five minutes of play but that did not stop the Asian side from getting the job done when power was restored.

In a later development, Nigeria’s duo of Shehu Alhaji Aliyu and Ukeh Uchechukwu Deborah also reached the final of the mixed doubles without lifting their rackets.

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The duo benefited from a walk over which took them to the final after their French opponents  of Maio Julien and Palermo Lea were ruled out due to arm injury.

The championship comes to a close this Saturday.

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