I don't usually write comments but like you knew what you were talking about man. Kodai's actually my favourite player in the tour and my friends at badminton call me kodai since I don't have a finishing shot too lol, and you nailed it with your analysis man. We need more Kodai videos
Two videos in a day? Incredible! Kodai is so interesting to see play... for about 2 minutes, then you've seen it all. I have a lot of students of mine who always push back in the middle because they are afraid of making a mistake, I'll show them this one!
As many experts have mentioned, badminton is a form of sport and entertainment, nobody wants to watch a player rally for hours on end. Kodai is extremely one dimensional imo and players are beginning to figure him out
I’ve personally saw him play an exhibition match here in the Philippines during the 2024 FGD Cup, imho, Kodai is a really athletic and great player, and has a lot of potential. I was rooting for him to be one of the players to contend for a medal this 2024 Paris Olympics, unfortunately… I do hope he regains his form, as his ability to go on for long rallies is amazing. Maybe he really just needs that signature shot to top it all off.
Yeah, very unfortunate for Momota and honestly the Japanese team as a whole. The entire team would be much stronger if they were continuously practicing with prime Momota.
@@yukigumarnament5916lol you never know, as we can see Olympic pressure gets to players like no other. Did anyone think Lee/Wang would have won not just one, but two gold medals? They have poor super series records and losing records basically against all top pairs, but yet won two gold. And based on your logic Tai should have multiple gold medals too as she has winning record against all of her contemporaries. So this prime Momota would have beaten Axelsen in the Olympics, well, maybe, or maybe not.
While Kodai may be the highest ranked Japanese player, I have a sneaky suspicion Kento could still be the best Japanese player, despite his retirement. After the 2020-2021 period, Kento has retained his superiority over his fellow Japanese players but seemed to find it difficult to translate it onto the international stage.
@@KeithHiew I'll have to disagree, seeing we already have an official match between them where Kenta was also in great form, Kodai beat him 21-13 ,21-13 in straight games!
The first time I saw his game, I thought there was nothing interesting in his game, it just seems like wearing down his opponents. Hence was surprised his ranking went up to top 5.
Well, every era you have a player like this. Some say Kodai in LD/LCW era would have never made it to top 20, well, it just tells me they never really watched badminton, because in the LD/LCW era an even shorter player made it to top 5, Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam.
@@Phat-rj3jo Top 20 is harsh. It's true the current gen has a hard time comparing to the previous generation but I honestly can't imagine Kodai being top 2 in an LD/LCW era. He's Sho Sasaki level. Victor is good but I'd take prime Gade over him any day. I don't recall NTM winning any Super Series but his achievements considering his resources is legendary.
@@Phat-rj3jo And you have to be honest, NTM had the heart of a giant, but he was never a contender for super series finalist. He just didn't have the resources. This generation however, Kodai is finalist material. His straight forward undynamic playstyle is enough to contend the finals. The generation that bowed down to a 20% LCW (Cancer doesn't happen overnight)
Following his matches since he was in elementary school, it seems he matured too quickly as a badminton player. In Japan he was already well known when he was in his first year of junior high (or even when he was grade 6), because he already won almost all the junior tournamemts, and by the time he became the second year/8th grade, he was listed in the BWF World Ranking, beating some adult national players. He was rather tall for his age bacn then, almost about as tall as now, enabling him to beat all the kids from his generation, and also skilled enough to secure wins even from average level national players. Well, the problem is that he didn't get any taller so he can't rely on his physical strength among international players and he seems to have no confidence hitting smashes, which leads to his current defensive style.
I agree, Kodai's play, it sometimes doesn't have an end point strategy. It can look like an exhibition match. He is doing shots that are meaningless something. And when you think he is going for something, he plays a shot that resets it entirely.
one hundred percent on point. I really hope Kodai and whatever coach is endorsing this zero winning combo playstyle watches or realizes this. Kodai has no true winning combo to get him the 2 sets. just the one set where he's adamant with tiring his opponent out with perma rallies lol I hope his loss to LZJ where they made him think he got tired makes him realize this too
Tiring your opponent is a valid strategy kento Momota proved that. He even made shi yuqi retire at 20 points due to the sheer humiliation he felt from being moved on court like a toy.
I think the only big players he faced, was sen and kunlavut but they arent in great form this year. Also many of his opponents before the quarter finals retired or didnt play giving him some energy advantage. If only kunlavut stopped mqking unforced errors. Nonetheless, I still think he's the goat of this generation.
@@Phat-rj3jo Many young players today tend to rely too heavily on finishing rallies with powerful smashes instead of making clever plays like deceptions or skills like slices/reverse slices. While smashes can be exciting to watch, they can become repetitive and predictable over time. Look at players like Lee Chong Wei or Lin Dan-their rallies were full of variety and skillful maneuvers. But hey, that is just my opinion of course.
@@Phat-rj3jo I don't necessarily agree with Jeff that players these days rely on smashes, as smashing in singles has always been what wins rallies. However, I do think that today's players are just worse in most measures. Worse footwork, worse shot quality, worse decision making. If you look at Lin Dan's contemporaries in the 2012 Olympics, for example, you had Lee Chong Wei, Chen Long, Peter Gade, Taufik Hidayat, Lee Hyun-il, Son Wan-ho, and Chen Jin. Today, Viktor's biggest rival is Shi Yuqi; everyone else was simply not much of a threat. The game itself hasn't changed much, it's just that talent today is just worse at badminton than talent 10 years ago.
Aggressive doesn't mean Victory. Most of Kento Momotas win's when he came back from the gambling ban was a very defensive style and yet he dominated everyone.
Yes I totally agree and I think its pretty obvious, so why doesn't Kodai change this? Is it the Japanese culture? Japanese players seem to have the same problems, not aggressive enough.
I do think players like Kenta Nishimoto and Koki Watanabe are definitely more aggressive. One can only wonder what's going through Kodai's head. He has mentioned in some interviews that he just wants to have fun.
@@getgoodatbadminton8406 Yes, they are more aggressive, but I still think that they should do more. From time to time they get to happy just to rally and like you said, they need combos and a plan how to force the point. That does not mean hitting outright winners.
@@thorium222 I agree your opinion,almost all of japanese player can controll the shuttle beautifully and consistently,but without a powerful smash to finish the game .
LOL, his video and these comments just have no insight into what it takes to be a top 10 player in the world let alone a top 100 player. Kodai HAS changed his tactics with an attempt to improve. He had a period last year where he increased his attacking and it gave him a bit of success, but because his best attacking is relatively weak, and the defence of top players is so high, he had to abandon this tactic and continue modifying. He also has periods of changing his speed of play, but once again, this can only be somewhat effective at this level and his not his forte. Kodai, and other top players, are not just robots that can be programmed to change their strengths. Their strengths the have lead to their strategies and all the top players are trying to modify their strategies for optimal success.
Japanese badminton players tend to be those speedy, high stamina type. Probably they need to encourage taller and tougher guys to play badminton as well
The match he played against Axelsen is a perfect example of why he'll struggle to win a title. Way too defensive. Axelsen just smashed straight through him.
his placing dont have a quality. and make a lot of waste body movement that make him tired and lost composure. well he is still young. and if he can improve his weakness i think he can be a good player. well thats 'if' .
Kodai plays like a crazy dog, playing like this will make you tired easily. Look at chong wei or lin dan. If they confirmed they have a chance to finish the rally, they will quickly change their pace. And his core strength is kinda ughh, he shakes alot when playing and he isnt really stable.
If you're going to talk about Kodai then you better be talking about the Singaporean World champ gold medalist 😂. Seemingly has everything but consistency.
