Badminton: Kento Momota pulls out of Denmark Open

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Japanese Media reported that Nippon Badminton Association announced that fifteen Japanese players, including number one Kento Momota have withdrawn from Denmark Open 2020. After much hiatus and speculation the badminton world tour is finally resuming with Denmark Open from 13 October 2020. The withdrawal of a top player like Momota and numerous others comes as a blow to the event.

The Denmark Open is set to happen between 13^th to 18^th October. The Asian leg of tournaments in badminton however now stands postponed to January 2021. It was set to happen in November- December 2020, earlier.

Also Read: Badminton: Asian Leg of tournaments to be held in January 2021

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It is reported from the association’s source that the withdrawal comes due to increasing concerns over spread of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

With no more international tournaments scheduled for this year, Momota’s first tournament post the pandemic is expected to be the Japan’s National championships in December 2020.

Among the 15 names who withdrew are Akane Yamaguchi, Takeshi Kamura, Keigo Sonoda, Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe.

Nozomi Okuhara, Kenta Nishimoto, Yuki Fukushima, Sayaka Hirota, Mayu Matsumoto, Wakana Nagahara, Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida will be competing in the Denmark Open.

Kidambi Srikanth And Saina Nehwal lead the Indian contingent at Denmark Open, while PV Sindhu has withdrawn. Rio Olympic champion Carolina Marin is also playing at Denmark. Home favourite Victor Axelsen has withdrawn due to an injury, however rising star Anders Antonsen and veteran Jan O Jorgensen look to shine at their home ground.

Apart from Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap, Laskhya Sen, Shubhankar Dey, and Ajay Jayaram represent India in the men’s singles category. India has no representation in the doubles categories.

Also Read: Kidambi Srikanth seeded sixth in Denmark Open Super Series 2020