Sorry, I'm not coming: Two-tome world champion Kento Momota of Japan has decided to skip the home tournament.
PETALING JAYA: Japan's men's singles star Kento Momota has withdrawn from the Malaysian Open from Jan 10-15 at the Axiata Arena.
The Nippon Badminton Association confirmed via twitter that world No. 16 Momota will not see action in the tournament as he was suffering from flu. He will also skip the next two tournaments, the Indian Open and Indonesian Masters.
Independent home player Liew Daren, who is the first in the reserve list, will take the Japanese' place in the tournament and will play Toma Junior of France in the opening round.
Meanwhile, the Japanese team were dealt a further blow when women's doubles pair and world No. 8 Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara were also forced to pull out from the tournament due to the latter's foot injury.
