Tokyo: Kento Momota, the former men’s singles world No. 2 who is serving an indefinite ban from the Nippon Badminton Association for gambling at illegal casinos in Japan, made his first public appearance in a charity event that was sponsored by his employer NTT East on Nov 12, showing his support for the victims of the Kumamoto City that were struck by a magnitude 7.0 mainshock earthquake in April.
Seven months after his gambling scandal that rocked the badminton world, Momota seemed to be more humble and lowered his head when the organizer introduced him to the crowd at the beginning of the ceremony in Kumamoto.
Momota didn’t play at the exhibition matches that were held in the morning, instead, he became the score keeper and was responsible to grab the scorecard and flip them over.
“After the 30-day suspension imposed by NTT East ended in May, I have been working in the general affair department at the headquarters office every morning. I continued to work on my practice in the afternoon,” said Momota.
“On the 23rd of last month, I participated in NTT East badminton classes held in Niigata and I will continue to participate in that event after the New Year. I don’t know when the Nippon Badminton Association will lift the suspension on me, but I would like to give back and contribute to the community through social involvement,” added Momota.
When Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan are not young anymore, BadmintonPlanet really hope excellent young players such as Kento Momota could get back on the badminton court to spark newfound excitement for the sport.
