Badminton News: Local favorite and world number 2 Kento Momota suffered an early exit from the World Championships in Tokyo after losing to HS Prannoy India in the second round of men’s singles on Wednesday August 24.
The two-time world champion was far from his best and world number 18 Prannoy took full advantage, winning 21-17 and 21-16 in 54 minutes.
“I’m too afraid to make mistakes and I’m less aggressive in attack. It’s not about the opponent’s performance today, but my game is not good enough,” complained Kento Momota, who won the Nanjing 2018 and Basel 2019 world titles respectively.
“It’s not that I’m not good in training. I just need to perform in tournaments like I did in training. Physically I have no problem,” added Momota.
Meanwhile, Prannoy will face compatriot and Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold medalist Lakshya Sen in India’s third round clash on Thursday.
The winner of this duel will face either Lee Zii Jia or Zhao Junpeng of China in the last eight.
Junpeng, 23, beat 2021 World Championship silver medalist K. Srikanth 21-9, 21-17 to set up a meeting with Zii Jia in the third round.
India’s world number 18 HS Prannoy struck at the right time to beat Momota for his first win in nine games and then sympathized with the former world champion’s plight.
“He’s not at his best. But a win is a win for me and to play one more round in a tournament is what I want to do,” said Prannoy, himself a veteran comeback after injury. different stages of his career.
“I think he looks a little more hesitant,” Prannoy continued.
“There were a lot of changes in the way he played. Back then his defense was much stronger. Maybe now people have started to read the game in a different way. But I think that “There’s a slight difference in his style of play, his movements and his approach to the game, it’s changed quite a bit. It happens to all players. They have their phase,” added Prannoy.
Tags Articles: kento momota, HS Prannoy, world championship 2022
Published by Ligaolahraga.com at https://www.ligaolahraga.com/badminton/kento-momota-kecewa-kandas-di-babak-kedua-kejuaraan-dunia-2022
