Manila: The World No. 2 Kento Momota’s bid for a third consecutive Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) title fell short Wednesday when he lost to World No. 52 Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia in the first round of the 2022 BAC 21-17, 17-21, 7-21.
Momota who won the 2018 and 2019 editions, was trailing most of the time in the first game before coming back from 15-17 to win the first game 21-17.
The former World No. 1 was off to an awful start in the second game, as he was down by 0-8 before losing the game 17-21.
Momota was completely demoralized and lost focus by allowing Wardoyo to score 9 consecutive points in the middle of the decider and was ultimately stunned by the Indonesian 21-7 in the third-set.
Before this departure to Manila, the 27-year-old has said that his condition was only at 50%.
“I just want to win one point at a time, without thinking too much about winning my third consecutive BAC title,” said Momota.
On March 9, 2022, Momota also suffered a first-round loss at the German Open, losing to teammate Kenta Nishimoto 21-23, and 9-21.
His condition at BAC was certainly worrisome. After BAC, he would serve as the captain of the Japanese Thomas Cup squad which will compete at the Thomas Cup Finals in Bangkok (May 8-15).
