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PETALING JAYA: Badminton fans around the world will have to wait longer for the return of World No. 1 Kento Momota.
Momota’s long-awaited return to competition will not take place after all at the Danish Open when he and a host of compatriots surprisingly withdrew from the October 13-18 tournament in Odense.
Joining him on the absentee list are female singles star Akane Yamaguchi, Keigo Sonoda-Hiroyuki Endo (male doubles) and Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (mixed doubles), who are top favorites at their respective events.
The Japanese players who will still compete in the Open are Kenta Nishimoto (men’s singles), Nozomi Okuhara (women’s singles) and Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara, Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota and Chiharu Shida-Nami Matsuyama (women’s doubles).
According to reports in Japan, the Nippon Badminton Association did not disclose the reasons behind the withdrawal of Momota and Co, but it is believed that they were concerned about the increase in Covid-19 cases in Europe.
Denmark has registered an average of 400 cases a day since mid-September.
The news will be a massive blow not only to the tournament organizers, but also to the Badminton World Federation (BWF), who hope to restart the season in the best possible way after the season was suspended from mid-March with the host. . from the All-England.
The tournament has already been affected by a series of withdrawals by major Asian nations, and the participation of these Japanese stars was seen as a saving grace.
All eyes were on Momota’s return, as it had been almost nine months since he appeared in a tournament.
Momota had missed the last two months of action before the Covid-19 suspension after being involved in a traffic accident in Kuala Lumpur a day after capturing the Malaysian Masters in January.
With no more tournaments in a row for the rest of the year, Momota is expected to make his competitive comeback at the Japan National Championship, where he will look to win his third title in a row and a fourth overall.
Momota’s absence from Odense is expected to open the competition wide with world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen from Taiwan and No. 3 Denmark Anders Antonsen now aiming to be the men to beat.
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