I think this is a very underrated player that doesn't get enough recognition. He switched his sponsor from Yonex to Wilson. Any thoughts upon this amazing aggressive player from Japan?
He is amazing and aggresive. And from listening to Gillian Clark's commentary, she may have a crush on him. He is so quick and never says die. I'm sure that disheartens a lot of his opponents. However the really top guys seem to have more court smarts than he does. In the few matches I've seen Sasaki seems to get flustered when his Blitzkrieg style doesn't phase a Lin Dan or a Lee Chong Wei. Then Sho got impatient and ended up making a lot of unforced errors. Nevertheless, he is an exciting player. I'd love to see a match between him and Tien Minh Nguyen.
i havent seen sasaki play much, only against LD. I do recall chen jin had some problem up against sasaki. SS plays a very unconventional style of badminton so it could catch alot of top players off guard. Only the top top players can learn and change style in time to counter SS's style.
He beat Shoji Sato at the All Japanese Nationals last year, breaking Sato's winning-spree which went on for about 5 years..
Sho Sasaki put up a good fight againist Chen Jin in the AE09. Chen Jin's reaction was pretty funny haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puyT9Ad2rfM
Sho Sasaki I remember this japanese player because the mention of his name makes me think of the japanese alcohol beverage Sake, haha. His strength and forte are his stamina and a powerful smash reaching up to 270km/h which is recorded during the 2010 Thomas Cup semi finals against Indon Simon Santoso. His style of play requires tremendous stamina as his short stature and attacking play needs superb court coverage. His military crewcut hairstyle does him good as it provides good heat dissipation during stressful and crucial stages of the game, haha. Park Joo Boong does a good job molding this player into a game with good court craft and game tactics. His opponents who can defeat him are deftly fast players like Lin Dan and LCW. I doubt if any stroke playing opponents can beat him. If Sho Sasaki's stamina remains this good or even improves, he will be a player to watch out for. Wong Choon Han lost to him again recently at the Australian Open. Also, I think another reason players lose to him is because he does not give you the impression that he is a dangerous player and this is where players will be scalped because of taking him too lightly.
Nobody mentions about his upset win over chen jin yesterday..? Anyway, all the credits should goes to Sho sasaki..after the controversial 09 AE match, i think he have improve a lot and at last figure out a way to defeat chen jin
Tago needs to watch out, Sho beat CJ again and he's now above Tago in the WR. I just love this guy and his style of play, actually saw him in action in october at the Dutch Open. Quite impressive.
I saw that match, it was 19-20, match point to Chen Jin. He lost to Chen Jin over a net kill but he claimed Chen Jin racquet had went over the net. Too bad this video ended early, he actually went on protesting the umpire call for at least 2 minutes, refusing to accept the call or shaking hand with Chen Jin. At the Malaysia GP Gold today, Sho Sasaki protested a line call at 18-14 during his semi-final match against LCW. He was completely in distraught with the call and within 1 minute gave up the next three points and wrapped the match away for LCW. BTW, the linesman was right, the video replay shows the shuttle hitting right inside the line. Mental toughness is just as important as physical toughness. No?
I first heard of Sho Sasaki last year when I was researching into a new Wilson racket. In the end I bought a Wilson 'K' Brave - but that is a different story! I've seen him play several times, most recently against Lin Dan in this year's Sudirman Cup, and I am also very impressed with his style of play. Whilst Lin dan beat him in two straight sets, both games were incredibly close; 22-20 and 21-19. He has an awesome smash and has incredible court coverage for a bloke of size. He is currently ranked no. 16 (16/06/11), two places ahead of Tago. I also love his Recon racket.