Badminton: World No. 1 Kento Momota injured in Malaysian car crash, driver killed

Badminton world No. 1 Kento Momota has been injured in a car accident in Malaysia, with the driver of the vehicle killed in the crash.

The pre-dawn vehicle collision took place at the Maju Expressway early Monday morning (Jan 13), just hours after he secured his first victory of the season at the Malaysia Masters.

The Japanese shuttler was with three other players en route to Kuala Lumpur International Airport when the hired van they were in rammed into the rear of a 30-tonne truck, the local fire and rescue department said in a brief statement.

The driver of the van, named as N. Bavan, was killed in the accident. The fire and rescue department said it was still working to extricate the driver's body from the wreckage.

Momota and the others - named as the Japanese player's compatriots Yu Hirayama, Morimoto Arkifuki and Englishman William Thomas by official news agency Bernama - suffered slight injuries, the department said.

Malaysian daily The Star said Hirayama, 35, and Morimoto, 42, are part of the Japanese coaching team while Thomas is a Badminton World Federation (BWF) court official.

The vehicle crashed into the back of a lorry, which was travelling slowly, Bernama reported.

"The victim's body and all the injured" were sent to hospital in the administrative capital Putrajaya, fire and rescue department senior official Norazam Khamis was cited as saying.

The survivors were reportedly in a stable condition, according to a statement from Serdang police. This was confirmed by Malaysian Tan Kim Her, who is the men's doubles coach for the Japanese national team.