- Turkish Cypriots caught in citizenship limbo on divided island
- Final campaigning in tight Japan election
- Cali's love motels adapt to host UN summit delegates
- World champion Sakamoto takes Skate Canada lead over Liu
- Sainz tops times as Russell crashes in Mexico GP practice
- Three moments from King Charles Pacific tour
- Commonwealth announces Ghana foreign minister as new secretary general
- Gaza ministry accuses Israel of storming hospital, reports two children killed
- King Charles III departs Samoa, wrapping Pacific tour
- G7 finalize $50 bn Ukraine loan backed by Russian assets profits
- Ex-Abercrombie CEO pleads not guilty to sex crimes
- Unfulfilled talent? Two-time champion Alonso clocks up 400th F1 race
- Guardiola praises 'incredible' mentality of Man City stars
- Chelsea boss Maresca wants more 'leadership' from captain James
- US issues historic apology for Native American boarding school atrocities
- Moody's cuts France outlook, opening door to credit downgrade
- Drone sparks fire on Kyiv residential building, one dead
- Gaza ministry says two children die in hospital in Israeli raid
- Wood brace fires Forest as Leicester boss Cooper loses reunion
- Dodgers draw on Bryant's 'Mamba mentality' for World Series
- 'Fascist' row overshadows glitzy night on US campaign trail
- Modern art museum breathes new life into downtown Warsaw
- Russell tops crash-hit Mexico GP practice
- Fils, Shelton set for friendly fire in Basel semi-finals
- Internet blackout hits Mozambique capital after election protests
- Yankees, Dodgers poised for World Series blockbuster
- 'Catfish' predator who drove US girl to suicide jailed for life in N.Ireland
- NASA astronaut hospitalized after return from ISS
- Biden apologizes for Native American boarding school atrocities
- Mexico rules out designating drug violence as 'terrorism'
- Emery wants no let-up from Aston Villa
- Boeing exploring sale of space business: report
- G20 affirms commitment to transition from fossil fuels
- Shami misses India's tour of Australia as Easwaran named as potential Rohit cover
- BHP, Vale agree to pay $30bn damages for Brazil dam disaster
- 75 sickened as McDonald's severe E. Coli outbreak expands
- Turkmenistan's 'Gateway to Hell' lit gas pit faces closure
- Kickboxing takes Senegal by storm despite tight funds
- Waymo ramps up robotaxi push with $5.6 bn in funding
- Elon Musk all-in for Trump as Moscow denies secret Putin talks
- Covid lessons learned? UN summit mulls plan for healthy planet, and humans
- Borthwick unveils new contracts for leading England players
- Sexual assault scandal rocks Spain's 'most feminist' govt
- France must make 'credible' progress on deficit: finance minister
- Stock markets diverge going into weekend
- BHP, Vale agree to pay $30bn compensation for Brazil dam disaster
- Verstappen says 'definitely' his intention to remain at Red Bull
- Mbappe can launch Madrid career in first Clasico
- A monumental dump and Obama the rapper: an offbeat US campaign week
- Biden to apologize for abusive Native American boarding schools
Former badminton ace Momota bows out of international competition
Two-time world champion Kento Momota bowed out of international badminton on Thursday without hitting a shuttlecock, after his Japan side lost to Malaysia in the Thomas and Uber Cup quarter-finals in China's Chengdu.
Momota, aged 29, was once badminton's undisputed king, winning 11 titles in 2019 and losing just six of the 73 matches he played that year.
But in January 2020 the vehicle taking him to Kuala Lumpur airport crashed hours after he won the Malaysia Masters, and he has admitted he has never been the same since.
The driver was killed and Momota needed surgery to repair a fractured eye socket.
When he returned after a year out Momota suffered double vision and failed to regain the scintillating form that had taken him to world number one, although he did win two more titles.
Now ranked 52 and having missed out on a place at the Paris Olympics, he said last month he would retire from Japan's national team after playing at the Thomas and Uber Cup.
- Low-key exit -
Momota's Japanese men's team lost 3-1 to Malaysia in Chengdu on Thursday in a tense best-of-five tie.
That meant the former superstar -- scheduled to play in the fifth and final match -- did not even set foot on court.
In the first match of the tie, Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia comfortably defeated Japan's Kenta Nishimoto 21-13, 21-3, before doubles pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi beat Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 18-21, 21-14, 21-19 to level the contest.
Leong Jun Hao saw off Koki Watanabe 21-13, 21-10 to put Malaysia in front, leaving doubles pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin to clinch their match and the tie by downing Japanese duo Akira Koga and Taichi Saito, triggering wild on-court celebrations.
It was a low-key exit to international competition for Momota.
Following his team's defeat in Chengdu, he will now play only in domestic competitions in Japan and not on badminton's World Tour.
Momota had targeted this summer's Paris Olympics but his national ranking was not good enough to earn him a spot in Japan's team.
He was banned from selection for the 2016 Rio Olympics for gambling at an illegal casino.
He lost in the opening round of the Tokyo Games in 2021 in a huge shock which he described as "nothing but a frustrating memory".
"I don't think I was fully prepared for it but I had dreamed of playing at the Olympics for a long time so in that sense it was a good experience," he said last month.
Y.Kobayashi--AMWN