No, two. Shida Matsuyama won first doubles against Fukuhiro, then Yamaguchi/Ono lost to Araki/Imai (after blowing a big lead), after which AY played singles vs Haruko Suzuki. Now it's Nakai vs Zhang Beiwen ( ) and god knows who for third doubles. Probably no afternoon session, to be honest.
AY playing doubles? Shut up and take my money! I'm gonna watch the replay if any. Doesn't really matter if she won or lost Haha
You must have missed the greatest women's doubles combination in Japanese history: Yukino Nakai actually beat Zhang Beiwen in three games, making it 3-1 overall. Sorry for ZBW, to be honest. She was surely expected to win and lost to #199 in the world.
The set-up is three singles and two doubles. Hence, had the match materialised, it would have been 'third singles'!
Yep, but Unisys only narrowly defeated NTT-East; it was 3-2: NTT-East's Mizui defeated Ebihara 2-0, and Oie, would you believe it, beat Takahashi Sayaka (National A Team) by the same 2-0. If only Mitani could have pulled a similar feat. Unfortunately, she lost to Nakanishi by 2-1.
But it was the men's tournament that amazed me. NTT-East, with only one National A Team player among them, managed to defeat star-studded Tonami by 3-1!! With Tonami possessing two National Team A MDs, two National Team A MSs, and one National Team B MS, NTT-East pulled off a miracle. Sato/Koga A. 0 - 2 (11-21, 11-21) Kamura/Sonoda → Koga's usual partner, Saito Taiichi, did not play.Hoshino/Nishikawa 2 - 1 (21-18, 12-21, 21-13) Hoki/Kobayashi Koga M. 2 - 0 (21-19, 23-21) Shimono Momota 2 - 0 (21-12, 21-16) Tsuneyama With Nishimoto waiting in the wings, had this tie gone to the final match, Tonami would have been guaranteed a win. Tomorrow, NTT-East will face Nihon Unisys.
Ah, so the modus is different from league play? Interesting, I didn't notice that (I think ) in the previous years. Anyway, it's quite staggering to see the current change in WS. Sato, Mitani and Suzuki are apparently over and out, while the two NTT youngsters do incredibly well (expected of Mizui, not so much of Oie) and even the Yonex ones (Takahashi, Suizu) managed to take Yamaguchi and Mine to three games. The only one that continues to be strange is Kawakami, who seems to be alternating between "really promising" and "utterly hopeless" on a day to day basis. Mizui should be ready to challenge Takahashi and especially Ohori soon. Edit: Wouldn't subscribe to "miracle" when it comes to NTT men. Momota vs whoever and Koga vs Shimono looked like two secure points, to be honest. The doubles win is great, however. It's good to see another team challenge in the men's game and shake that Unisys-Tonami duopoly. Good for Kento as well, cause he can see that his work for the team pays off and he doesn't have to shoulder the burden all by himself.
Koga vs Shimono is anything but secure (I would give it 50:50), ... and the scoreline more than revealed that. Indeed, just a couple of weeks ago, it was Shimono who eliminated Koga at the Ranking Circuit. As for the WS, ... it looks like Takahashi Sayaka is also a spent force, losing to Oie in straight games! Hmmm, Takahashi Asuka vs Mizui is going to evolve into an interesting rivalry. Currently, I would give Takahashi the upper hand, though, and she is still only nineteen.
I'm a little pessimistic about Japan WS after NO & AY. Maybe there won't be any other WS who can surpass what NO & AY has achieved until now. Both are arguably talents that rarely appear in Japan. Asuka Takahashi (20) and Mizui Hirari (19) have not shown brilliant results, compared to what their senior have achieved at the same age. Saena Kawakami, same age as AY, has not been able to compete with top players. Maybe they will only achieve achievements like Eriko Hirose, Minatsu Mitani, or Sayaka Sato. But Let's see...
Mizui is actually still only 18, and Takahashi, 19, but I know what you mean. Neither player's results on the international stage thus far are particularly conspicuous. They should prove formidable WS players on the domestic front, ... at least until Gunji Riko (16) hits the senior circuit. And Gunji might even make an impact on the international scene. She will be heading for the Badminton Asia Junior Championships next month; let's see how she fares there.
I think I'm going back to watching football, to be honest. I'm aging by two years every time I watch Nami Matsuyama play a final and at this rate, well....does anyone know any good rollator brands?
First of all, AY and NO are far and away the biggest talents that Japan has ever produced. Expecting others to immediately follow in terms of quality doesn't seem realistic. Secondly, the problem with having such great talents is that the youngsters aren't taken care of as much as they should. This is even more true for doubles, but also for singles. In the last few years Japan had AY and NO, two bonafide world class players, and SS and AO, two top twenty players, as well as many experienced seniors like Sayaka Takahashi and Minatsu Mitani. With the way the Japanese system works (A and B team), basically nobody else has been send to big tournaments, unless they financed it themselves. Even getting yourself to the B team and thus GP/GPG and 300 events is really difficult. Subsequently, the development of young players is severely stunted. If you look at other nations, it's quite different. China needed new players after the Wangs, LXR and SY left, so they developed their youngsters. What is the best way to develop youngsters? Have them train with your best players and coaches and have them play against the very best of other countries at international tournaments. You can very well compare Asuka Takahashi with Han Yue and Cai Yan Yan, imo. AT is 5 days older than Han Yue (h2h is 1-0 in favour of AT) and two days older than CYY. So these are three players that were born just 5 days apart. They all really started their careers in 2016. AT: 1 SS(Japan Open), 2 GPGs, 1GP, WJC (lost to finalist Pornpawee Chochuwong) HY: 4 GPGs, 1IC, WJC (lost to finalist CYF) CYY: 3 GPGs, 1 IC Up to this point, very similar development. In January 2017, HY is #137 in the world with 5 tournaments played, AT is #176 and CYY is #195 (both have 4 tournaments played). Very similar in ranking, performances and so on. No one is clearly better than the others. Now it changes: 2017 AT: 1 GPG, 5 ICs, 2 Junior tournaments HY: 1 SSP, 3 GPGs, 1 IC CYY: 1 SSP, 4 GPGs, 1 IC 2018 AT: 1 300, 2 100s, 4 ICs, 1 IS HY: 1 750, 4 500s, 6 300s, 3 100s CYY: 1 1000, 3 750s, 4 500s, 2 300s, 4 100s 2019 AT: 2 ICs, 2 ISs HY: 1 1000, 1 750, 3 500s, 2 300s CYY: 1 1000, 1 750, 3 500s, 3 300s To conclude: HY and CYY might overall be better, more talented players than AT. But you can't deny that they had a significantly more advantageous conditions coming up, which surely contributed greatly to the current difference in quality and world ranking. The rigid Japanese A and B system is quite bad for developing youngsters. Especially in periods when the NT is "blocked" by top quality seniors.
okay, that's just a bit of my concern... peace V The A & B team system might have a number of pros and cons, but I think there is always an opportunity for people who are ready for it, like what Takahashi or Ohori did. LOL
The entire National A Team, minus Sakai Kazumasa, will be participating in the Thailand Open. It is going to be a tough three weeks: Indonesia, Japan, and Thailand in quick succession.
They already done this last year twice. One was in June-July 2018, MAS-INA-THA Open. The other one was in September 2018, JPN-CHN-KOR Open. However, this upcoming schedule will be more tiring for JPN Team A. They basically travel from JPN to INA, and then goes back to JPN, before going abroad again to THA, before going back again in JPN. To make it short, their traveling path will be JPN-INA-JPN-THA-JPN. All of the distances are really far.
TBH I'm just glad the rubbish 4 stopper we had last year was scrapped, with Singapore the final stop of the 4 legger. Be looking forward to people either conquering the 750 then 1000 then battery flat or WDN for the 500, or 750 then 500.... I can't see someone doing a hat trick here. But of course if there must be someone in MS, I wish it would be Momota. I mean, what the heck were they thinking? To the point that B team from JPN was fielded here.... I'm loving it that you glossed over Singapore last year as the 4th stop after Thailand, calendar wise. LOL. But yeah I can see why. For Team Japan wise, Team A never came here and B came to have some fun. Also, you forgot the World champs in the middle of that period of traveling to and fro... but hey.
Not as far as those from Europe or US or Canada. Everyone but those in South East Asia is not having it easier in terms of traveling distance. MAS-INA-THA or JPN-CHN-KOR were much closer distance wise.
the schedule is quite crazy for even home players (Asian players) with these 3 crazy consecutive tournaments
