KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 1 shuttler Kento Momota was injured in a traffic accident in Malaysia early on Monday. The 25-year-old is in a stable condition, police and badminton officials said.
The van carrying Momota to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) collided with a 30-ton lorry from behind, killing the Malaysian driver of the van on the spot, according to the police as well as the local fire and rescue department, reports Xinhua news agency.
The other passengers in the van were UK badminton court official William Thomas who operates the hawkeye system operator, Japanese assistant coach Hirayama Yu and physiologist Morimoto Arkifuki. They were rushed to a nearby hospital to receive treatment.
Momota suffered a broken nose and was also injured in his lip and face, while other three sustained injuries with faces, hands, among others, the police said in a statement.
Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sports Syed Saddiq told a press conference at the hospital where the injured were receiving treatment that all four were in stable condition, adding that they would receive the best of treatment and were being monitored closely.
Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretary-general Kenny Goh Chee Keong said Momota and his team were on the way back to Tokyo because he actually had withdrawn from the following Indonesian Masters, while William was on his way to Jakarta for the tournament.