Kento Momota yesterday became the first Japanese man to win the badminton World Championships, convincingly beating China’s Shi Yuqi 21-11, 21-13 in Nanjing.
Momota’s nascent career descended into controversy in 2016 when Japanese badminton chiefs suspended him for more than a year for visiting an illegal casino, denying him a place at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Momota, No. 2 in the world at the time, has been working his way back to the top ever since and the world No. 7 is in the form of his life.
In Shi he faced another of badminton’s rising stars.
The agile 22-year-old defeated Lin Dan and Olympic champion Chen Long on the way to the final to confirm his newfound status as China’s best player.
Shi appeared nervous early on against Momota.
He made a series of errors as the Momota clinched the first game in 21 minutes, and the Japanese star’s superiority was even more apparent in the second.
The end was an anti-climax, the shuttlecock hitting the top of the net before falling in Momota’s favor. The Japanese apologized to his opponent.
Earlier, Carolina Marin became the first woman to win three badminton world titles with an emphatic 21-19, 21-10 victory over P.V. Sindhu of India.
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB