TOKYO —
Japanese badminton star
Kento Momota blamed his fear of failure for a
“weak-spirited” second-round exit from the world championships on Wednesday
after losing 21–17, 21–16 to India’s HS Prannoy.
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Number two seed
Momota, whose career has been in free fall since a car crash more than two
years ago left him badly hurt, limped out after another meek performance in
front of a stunned crowd in Tokyo.
Momota, once
badminton’s undisputed king, looked a shadow of the player that won a record 11
titles in 2019, and he pulled no punches when analyzing his own performance
after the match.
“I was so scared of
making mistakes that I shrunk within myself a little and I think that was why I
lost,” the crestfallen 27-year-old told reporters.
“I realized that
midway through the match, but I couldn’t do anything to fix it. I was
weak-spirited and that’s so frustrating.”
Momota dumped shot
after shot into the net and was powerless to stop world number 18 Prannoy from
taking control early in the match.
Momota vowed to try
to get back to his former position at badminton’s summit but he said he would
need some time to get over this latest disappointment.
“I think I used to
win titles too easily,” he said.
“It became a matter
of course that I would win them, but it’s difficult and some players never win
even one.”
“I don’t think at
all that I’m not capable of winning titles,” he added.
Prannoy will play
in the next round against his Indian compatriot Lakshya Sen, who advanced with
a 21–17, 21–10 win over Spain’s Luis Enrique Penalver.
“I can’t really be
happy about what I’ve done because you don’t have time for that,” Prannoy said.
“You have to get
ready for what’s to come next tomorrow and hopefully keep getting better.”
Malaysian number
five seed Lee Zii Jia also booked his place in the next round with a
comfortable 21–9, 21–12 win over Portugal’s Bernardo Atilano.
Lee is aiming to
become the first Malaysian ever to win a world badminton title, and he said he
was “feeling good” after making short work of Atilano.
“I think the real
challenge will be tomorrow, and my opponent will be tougher than today,” said
the 24-year-old.
“It’s a big
challenge for me — I want to be the first to win the world championships from
Malaysia. I think everyone has a big chance to win so we will see.”
Defending champion
Loh Kean Yew of Singapore had to fend off a furious second-game fightback from
Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon before closing out their contest 21–12, 11–21, and
21–12.
Number eight seed
Loh played down the pressure of arriving in Tokyo as the reigning champion and
said he intended to “treat it like any other tournament”.
“I’m definitely
happy on the winning side, always,” he said.
India’s
Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Kidambi Srikanth was stunned 21–9, 21–17 by
China’s unseeded Zhao Junpeng.
Number 12 seed
Srikanth, the silver medallist at last year’s world championships and part of
India’s Thomas Cup-winning team in May, said he “could have maybe played
better”.
“He just played well when it really mattered,” said the
former world number one.
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