Badminton world number one Kento Momota was on his way home to Japan on Wednesday after being released from a hospital in Malaysia that treated him for injuries suffered in a vehicle collision.
A Reuters photographer saw Momota, who won the Malaysia Masters on Sunday, clearing security checks at Kuala Lumpur airport, his face covered in a white mask. His flight was due to leave at about 10 a.m.
The world's top-ranked men's singles player was among four passengers in a van travelling to the airport on Monday when it crashed into the back of a 30-tonne truck, injuring them and killing the driver of the van.
Momota suffered multiple lacerations to his face and a nasal bone fracture, the Badminton World Federation said.
Momota is expected to be one of Japan's biggest hopes for gold at this year's Tokyo Olympics.
(Reporting by Lim Huey Teng and Amir Hadi bin Azmi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
