BWF World Championships: Defending champion Kento Momota pulls out – After the Indonesia team pulled out, now it is the turn of two-time defending champion Kento Momota of Japan to withdraw from the competition. His reason was his failure to recover from a back injury. Follow BWF World Championships Live on InsideSport.IN
Also read: BWF World Championships: Indonesia team withdraws citing Omicron worry, check details
“BWF can confirm the unfortunate news that world No.2 and men’s singles defending champion Kento Momota has pulled out with injury,” the game’s world governing body said in a statement.
#BWF can confirm the latest withdrawals from the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021 including a large contingent of Indonesian 🇮🇩 players and defending champion Kento Momota 🇯🇵.#BWFWorldChampionship2021 #Huelva2021https://t.co/i47wt0XeiB
— BWF (@bwfmedia) December 8, 2021
“Momota also withdrew from last week’s HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2021 with a back issue and has returned to Japan.”
BWF World Championships: Defending champion Kento Momota pulls out
That was not the only major withdrawal as Malaysian seventh seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying, mixed doubles silver medallists at 2016 Rio Olympics, also withdrew from the from the BWF World Championships after deciding to part ways following a fruitful partnership of 13 years.
“Malaysian seventh seeds Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying on Monday announced their split as a pair after 13 years and have too withdrawn from the World Championships,” the BWF said.
The World Championships will get underway on Sunday at Huelva, Spain.
BWF World Championships: Defending champion Kento Momota pulls out
With so many players deciding to opt out, the tournament has lost quite a bit of its sheen. But BWF plan to go ahead with the competition and try and ensure it is a success.
“A majority of players have now arrived safely in Huelva and entered the tournament bubble. Round one matches start 10am local time on Sunday. There are currently no plans to conduct any redraws,” the BWF added.
BWF World Championships: Defending champion Kento Momota pulls out