Badminton champion Kento Momota postpones return by three months

Having suffered a broken nose in an accident in Malaysia on January 13, Japanese Kento Momota has said he'll take three months to rest after a surgery for his right eye socket fracture.

Kento Momota unlikely to be fit for the All England Championships.

Badminton world number one Kento Momota, who suffered a broken nose in a traffic accident in Malaysia on January 13, will take another three months to rest after a surgery for his right eye socket fracture.

His club NTT said in a statement that Momota returned to training with the national team last week, but did not feel well, Xinhua news agency reports.

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“He was diagnosed with a right eye socket fracture on Friday after leaving the training camp. He had surgery on Saturday and it was very successful,” the statement said. “The surgeon suggests he should take about three months to completely recover.”

Zeniya Kinji, secretary general of the Japanese Badminton Association, had said that Momota would be ready to defend his singles title in the All England Open Championships to start in Birmingham on March 11.

The 25-year-old Momota, who missed the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics due to a suspension for illegal gambling, won 11 international meets last year and is hoping to become Japan’s first Olympic badminton winner in the men’s singles at the Tokyo Olympics.