Momota comeback set for Saitama

Japanese former world #2 Kento Momota’s return to domestic competition is official.  His named appeared in the entry list last week for the Japan Ranking Circuit Competition in Saitama City late this month.  Seeded 8th in the competition, Momota will play his first match against Shu Wada, with a possible quarter-final meeting with top seed Kazumasa Sakai.  The event runs from May 27th to 31st.

In early March, Momota was cleared by the Nippon Badminton Association (NBA) to return to domestic competition as of May 15th.  The NBA had given him an indefinite suspension last spring after it was revealed he had been gambling in illegal casinos.  Momota’s last competition was the 2016 Malaysia Open, where he withdrew from his second round match on the day he ascended to a career-high world ranking of #2 and a week after he had won the India Open Superseries.  It is still unknown when Momota will be allowed to play international tournaments again.  BWF rules stipulate that only the NBA can enter a player’s name for a world ranking event so even though the 22-year-old has faced no disciplinary action from the world body, his international fate is still in the hands of his national association.

More information on the Saitama tournament is available here (in Japanese).  Badzine intends to be on site in Saitama this month for the event.

Photo: Miyuki Komiya / Badzine