Sports News | Badminton Star Kento Momota Grateful for Olympic Chance After Deadly Crash
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Japanese badminton star Kento Momota says he plans to play "with a sense of gratitude in my heart" when he makes his Olympic debut at the Tokyo games.
Tokyo, Jul 18 (AP) Japanese badminton star Kento Momota says he plans to play "with a sense of gratitude in my heart" when he makes his Olympic debut at the Tokyo games.
The Olympics will be the biggest test Momota has faced so far in his comeback from a fatal highway accident in Malaysia a year-and-a-half ago that injured him and several Japan team members and took the life of his driver.
The men's singles world number one fractured his eye socket in the crash then suffered through a bout of double vision in his return to training that had him fearing his career might be over.
He made a winning return to the court at the Japan national championships in December, only to be sidelined again after testing positive for COVID-19 in January.
He lost in the quarterfinals at the All England Championship in March, but is now fully fit and considered the gold medal favourite in Tokyo.
Speaking on Sunday, Momota admitted he is nervous about his Olympic debut, but will play with no regrets. AP
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)