Behind every great athlete is a great coach.

The world’s current number one men's badminton player, Japanese Kento Momota, was once coached by Malaysian Izuan Ibrahim during his youth.

And the man who helped shaped Kento’s career has sadly passed away on Monday evening.

According to Bernama, the former coach of the Junior Squad of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) passed away at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.

The man behind Kento Momota's success during his youth.
The President of the Kelantan Badminton Association Dr Naharuddin Hashim told the news agency that Izuan, 35, passed away at 7.30pm last night after being admitted to the hospital last Thursday.

“He was admitted to HUSM Kubang Kerian after complaining of headache and an examination revealed that he had intra-cranial bleeding,” he said.

“He was supposed to report for duty as a coach for the BAM Junior Squad soon.”

Izuan was only eight days away from reporting for duty.

He was buried at the Kampung Banggol Muslim Cemetery, Jalan Pantai Cahaya Bulan at about 11pm.

Momota also expressed his condolences to his former coach via his Twitter account.




“I won't be where I am now without the help of coach Izuan Ibrahim. I am honoured and also blessed to ever encountered such a pure soul,” Momota said.

Condolences to Izuan’s friends and family. Our nation lost another precious gem in the badminton world.