Read the complete write-up of Kento Momota net worth, age, height, family, wife, children, bwf, racket, Sudirman cup, accident as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Kento Momota is a Japanese badminton player. He is known to have a skilful and relentless play style on the court. He has won several major badminton tournaments including two World Championships titles, two Asian Championships titles, and one All England title.
Momota entered into Guinness Book of World Records for “The most badminton men’s singles titles in a season”, for his achievements by winning 11 titles in the 2019 season.
Early life
| Name | Kento Momota |
| Net Worth | $7 million |
| Profession | Badminton player |
| Height | 1.75m |
| Age | 27 years |
Kento Momota born on September 1,1994 (age 27 years) in Mino Kagawa, Japan. His father is Nobuhiro Momota. Kento coach is Yousuke Nakanishi who is a former male badminton player from Japan. His coach played the 2007 BWF World Championships in men’s singles and was defeated in the second round by Sony Dwi Kuncoro, of Indonesia, 21-15, 21-16.
Career
Kento Momota started his badminton career from junior level with quite perfect results. Momota’s badminton talent has been seen since he was a child. The player started to wrestle with feathers since he was in the second grade of elementary school. He won the first title in a fairly prestigious tournament in Japan, the All Japan Elementary School Championships.
Momota, who was in grade 6, came out as a champion in the men’s singles number. After elementary school, Momota continued his studies in Junior High School in Fukushima Prefecture. In his third year, he again won a similar tournament but at the junior level, the All Japan Junior High School Championships. Graduating from junior high school, Momota studied at Tomioka High School in Fukushima prefecture to hone his skills in badminton.
Kento’s presence was increasingly visible as he took part in a bigger race, the 2011 World Junior Championships held in Taipei, Taiwan. Even though Momota did not make it like a champion, it was a valuable lesson when he lost in the semifinal to the Malaysian Zulfadli Zulkiffli who came out as the 2011 World Junior Champion. Towards the end of 2011, Momota began to compete with his seniors in the All Japan Badminton Championship or 2011 Japan National Championship. Momota lost to Kenichi Tago in the final. Even so, his performance was noticed by the Nippon Badminton Association (NBA). Momota began to join the Japanese national team and was expected to become a future star.
Momota continued to learn from his defeats. Momota participated in the 2012 Asian Junior Championships held in Gimcheon, South Korea. Learning from his mistakes in 2011, he avenged his defeat in 2011 by becoming 2012 Asia Junior Champion after defeating Malaysian representatives, Soong Joo Ven in two straight games, 21–13, 22–20. In the same year, Momota also won the World Junior Championships held in Chiba, Japan. Appearing at home, Momota managed to donate gold in public. In the final round, he beat the mainstay of China, Xue Song through a very tight rubber game match. Momota won 21–17, 19–21, 21–19.
He attracted the attention of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East), the badminton club of NTT East which finally succeeded in asking for his hand to join. Momota officially joined the club that raised its name in April 2013. NTT East is the largest telecommunications company in Japan. By joining the NTT East club, Momota was ready with the consequences of also working at the company. Momota who was then 19 years old had begun to learn to manage time management in such away. He began to get used to dividing his time to work, practising on the Japanese national team, and being active in his club.
Professional career
Kento Momota who started the youth competition in 2013 was sent to the International Challenge competition level. Satisfactory results in the International Challenge tournaments in Europe. Momota managed to emerge as champion in Estonia, Sweden and Austria. Momota was immediately forged in a series of Grand Prix/Gold tournaments and even Superseries (Premiers) throughout 2013. He won all his matches during Japan’s maiden Thomas Cup victory in 2014, playing second men’s singles behind Kenichi Tago.
In 2015, He was the first Japanese player to win the Singapore Open. By winning that title, he became the first Japanese player to successfully capture a Superseries in the men’s singles and currently holds the record as the youngest Superseries champion in that category. In the 2015 Sudirman Cup, he repeated his feat in Thomas Cup to help Japan secure a spot as a runner-up. He once again made history in the 2015 BWF World Championships held in Jakarta.
He became the first Japanese player to win a medal in the men’s singles of the prestigious tournament. He made it to the semi-finals, before losing to Chen Long in straight sets. Rounding off the year, he won the 2015 BWF World Superseries Finals in Dubai. He competed at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, as well as the 2016 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Hyderabad, India.
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Momota returned to the Japanese national team at the end of 2017. However, due to a lack of his points, he was not qualified to play in the 2018 All England Open, a significant Super 1000 tournament that was held in March. On 28 April, he won the 2018 Asian Championship which was held in Wuhan, after defeating Chen Long of China in the finals with a score of 21–17, 21–13.
On 5 August, he won the World Championships title in Nanjing, China after beating Shi Yuqi from China in the finals with a score of 21–11, 21–13. He also won 4 BWF World Tour titles: Indonesia Open, Japan Open, Denmark Open and Fuzhou China Open. Momota became the first Japanese men’s singles player to occupy the World number 1 in the BWF World ranking on 27 September.
Kento Momota started the 2019 season by competing at the Malaysia Masters as the first seeds, but his pace was stopped by Kenta Nishimoto in the first round. He then reached the final in Indonesia Masters but lost to Anders Antonsen of Denmark. He claimed his first title in 2019, by winning the German Open a Super 300 tournament. In March 2019, he won the All England Open beating Viktor Axelsen from Denmark in the finals in 3 sets with a score of 21–11, 15–21, 21–15, becoming the first Japanese man to win the All England Open title.
In April, Momota won his second Asian Championships title in Wuhan, China beating home favourite Shi Yuqi in three games 12–21, 21–18, 21–8. He also won the Singapore and Japan Open titles. In August, he reclaimed his World Champion title, beating Anders Antonsen 21–9 and 21–3. In doing so, Momota became only the fourth player to win back-to-back titles on a short, all-Chinese list that includes Yang Yang, Lin Dan and Chen Long. After that, he won his first title in China and Korea Opens, also defend his title at Denmark Open and Fuzhou China Open.
Momota closed his stellar 2019 year by winning his 11th title, the World Tour Finals by beating Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 17–21, 21–17, 21–14. Previously in the gala dinner of the same event, he was awarded as the BWF Best Male Player of the Year. He is also nominated as Best Male Athlete by the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive.
Kento Momota began the 2020 season as the men’s singles world number 1. He competed at the Malaysia Masters as the first seeded, defeated Indian’s Kashyap Parupalli and H. S. Prannoy in the first and second round with two straight games, later in the quarter-final beat Huang Yuxiang in the rubber games. In the semi-final, he dashed the host’s hopes by bowing to Lee Zii Jia with a score of 21–10, 21–19.
Despite not being at his physical best, Momota pulled off a good show to beat the 2017 World Champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 24–22, 21–11 in the final. He extended his head-to-head record over Axelsen to a whopping 14–1. After winning the Malaysia Masters, Momota was involved in an accident on the way to the airport. He suffered a broken nose as well as injuries to his lips and face.
Tested Positive
In January 2021, Momota tested positive for COVID-19 prior to travelling to Bangkok. As a result, the entire Japanese team withdrew from the three tournaments scheduled to occur that month in Thailand: the Yonex Thailand Open, Toyota Thailand Open, and World Tour Finals. In March, Momota made a comeback to international competition from injury at the All England Open. Played as the top seed, he was beaten by Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the quarter-finals in a straight game.
During the 2020 Summer Olympics, again playing as the top seed, Momota was knocked out in the group stage after losing to the unseeded South Korean Heo Kwang-hee. In September–October, Momota alongside the Japanese team competed at the Sudirman Cup in Vantaa, Finland. He helps the team reach the finals, but Japan was defeated by China 1–3. At the Thomas Cup in Aarhus, Denmark, Momota alongside the Japanese team won the bronze medal. The team was defeated by China in the semi-finals with a score of 1–3.
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In October, he took part in the Denmark Open and finished in 2nd place to Viktor Axelsen in three games, 22-20, 18-21, and 12-21, lasting 93 minutes.
Accident
In January 2020, A van carrying Kento Momota crashed into a truck killing the driver, while three other passengers also suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The accident occurred just hours after Momota won the Malaysia Masters men’s singles. Japanese coach Yu Hirayama, Japanese trainer Akifumi Morimoto and William Thomas, a British technical adviser for the Badminton World Federation, were also on board.
The Fire and Rescue Services Department said the van crashed into the back of a 30-ton lorry carrying sand on a highway on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, killing the 24-year-old Malaysian driver. The passengers were sent to a hospital in Putrajaya, the federal administrative capital.
Gambling scandal
On 7 April 2016, Momota admitted to visiting an illegal casino in Tokyo after casino staff reported him gambling there “frequently”. In a board meeting, it was revealed that he gambled away 0.5 million yen during 6 visits to the casino with his teammate, Kenichi Tago, who spent 10 million yen after 60 visits to various casinos. The Nippon Badminton Association secretary-general Kinji Zeniya said it would “probably be impossible” for Momota to participate in the Rio 2016 Olympics, with frequent gambling being punishable by law with a prison sentence of up to 3 years. He was banned from playing until late 2017 for this.
Wife
Kento Momota is currently single and not married. His wife or girlfriend is unknown to the public. He is in a private relationship. Momota and his parents live in a private house in Tokyo, Japan.
Kento Momota net worth
How much is Kento Momota worth? Kento Momota net worth is estimated at around $7 million. His main source of income is from his career as a badminton player. Momota successful career has earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy cars. He is one of the richest and influential badminton players in the world.