It appears that Seiko Yamada, who partners Shizuka Yamamoto up till the Olympics, has a new partner, Shizuka Matsuo. I was a little confused when I saw Seiko Yamada playing with Shizuka Matsuo in the French Open, and thought Shizuka Yamamoto married and took up her husband's family name. But it appears that Shizuka Yamamoto might have retired from professional badminton. She was born in 1975 (or 1976), while Seiko Yamada was born in 1978. Seiko Yamada's new partner, Shizuka Matsuo, was born in 1986. The latter two plays for Sanyo. I suppose that is why they are taking part in the smaller tournaments, to try out the new partnership. I don't know whether they will go as far as the previous partnership, because Shizuka Matsuo is only 157 cm in height...
Well, Yamada/Matsuo had a good run until the final in the French Open, but they lost to french pair Eymard/Rahmawati in the final. Though the crowd was obviously cheering against them, losing to a french WD pair isn't a very good result...
