Japanese · Minamiashigara, Japan · Born 1 September 1994World number one and the most dominant men's badminton player since Lin Dan — Momota's career was derailed by a car accident before reaching its peak.
Kento Momota was banned from international competition for over a year after visiting an illegal gambling establishment as a young player in 2016, a suspension that cost him a place at the Rio Olympics during what should have been the peak build-up years of his career. He returned in 2017 with something to prove and, within two years, was the first Japanese man to hold the world No.1 ranking in the modern era. His back-to-back World Championship titles in 2018 and 2019 came during a stretch where he was widely considered close to unbeatable on tour, a level of dominance that made a serious car accident in Malaysia in early 2020 -- which killed his driver and left Momota with facial injuries -- feel like it had interrupted a career trajectory nobody expected to slow down. Momota did return to competition, though not at quite the level that had defined his 2018-19 peak, a gap between what the suspension-then-comeback arc originally promised and what actually followed that's common enough in sport but still notable given how completely dominant he'd looked immediately before the crash.
World's top men's singles badminton player, multiple world titles
How They Played
Aggressive attacking style with exceptional court coverage
Lasting Impact
Dominated men's badminton achieving consecutive World Championships
Career Honours
- World Champion 2018 2019
- World No.1
- Asian Champion
Japanese Athletes