Minatsu Mitani ( 三谷美菜津 )

[Licin]

Totally agree Mitani being a cutie. But not with SN being overconfident. If you have seen the whole match you would know. SN was not overconfident but MM played better. I have posted SN's post-semifinal interview on her thread. She herself said that this match was going to be tough and she will do her best. In fact she did her best but still MM was better hence MM won.

Waiting for MM beating some CBA WS, especially WYH and LXR...

[gopalprasad]

Good win for MM, she should take it as motivation and prepare harder from now on as SN was definitely tired coming to this match having her knee strapped and having played matches everyday since the Den Open.... And this win would bring her to notice for coaches.......The next time she plays others would be ready for her too...

[abedeng]

Totally agree Mitani being a cutie. But not with SN being overconfident. If you have seen the whole match you would know. SN was not overconfident but MM played better. I have posted SN's post-semifinal interview on her thread. She herself said that this match was going to be tough and she will do her best. In fact she did her best but still MM was better hence MM won.

Put it simply, Saina fell into the same trap the Thai MD pair fell to when playing Malaysian and Korean opposition.

Explosive power was used for almost the entire duration of the first game - most of which were returned back by way of fast attacking clears that kept Saina away from the net. By midgame of the 2nd - she had already felt the pace.

But she will get smarter next time, just need to remember to move the opponent the way she moved Juliane Schenk, before applying full power.

[abedeng]

Mitani's speed and ability to send counter-attacking clears even when she's fully extended on her defense is amazing. Diving defenses are not too bad too.

She, however, takes a bit of time when transitioning from defense to attack - which meant that she couldn't quite capitalize for the kill immediately after a good counter-defense move. Something top players including Saina are good at because of their ability to inject pace.

[kwun]

impressive.

basically, Mitani dictated the pace so fast she ran Saina to the ground. by the middle of the 2nd game Saina had a empty tank and MM just keep pushing her backcourt and finish any loose shot with either a cross court smash or fast drop. add a few unforce error from SN and ended up MM going home with her first SS title.

i wouldn't call her a Wang Xin but certainly a much more refined Eriko with more speed and and more lethal.

[cobalt]

An indication of how much MM has progressed is not from her match against Saina, but (considering her style of play) it's actually this one...

Thu 9/13/2012

Li Ning China Masters 2012

WS

Minatsu Mitani [JPN]

-

[CHN] Shixian Wang [3]

21-13 21-18

WSX still has a 3-1 lead in h-h, but that's gonna change...

[scorpion1]

Put it simply, Saina fell into the same trap the Thai MD pair fell to when playing Malaysian and Korean opposition.

Explosive power was used for almost the entire duration of the first game - most of which were returned back by way of fast attacking clears that kept Saina away from the net. By midgame of the 2nd - she had already felt the pace.

But she will get smarter next time, just need to remember to move the opponent the way she moved Juliane Schenk, before applying full power.

Yes.. I agree.. I have watched saina playing yesterday.. She applied her complete energy in trying for smashes in the first game.. But all the smashes were retrieved by mitani(she has improved her defense extraordinarily). But when it comes to 2nd game, saina was out of breath. And also i have seen her right knee with numerous bandages.. We have to appreciate saina for her great effort with 70% fit.. But mitani is the one who played excellently making use of saina's knee problem..

[SibugiChai]

Yes.. I agree.. I have watched saina playing yesterday.. She applied her complete energy in trying for smashes in the first game.. But all the smashes were retrieved by mitani(she has improved her defense extraordinarily). But when it comes to 2nd game, saina was out of breath. And also i have seen her right knee with numerous bandages.. We have to appreciate saina for her great effort with 70% fit.. But mitani is the one who played excellently making use of saina's knee problem..

I don't think any top 10 players in the world is 100% fit usually they carried one or few injuries. The secret is to play your strength. Sania use the wrong tactics against mitani.

[scorpion1]

I don't think any top 10 players in the world is 100% fit usually they carried one or few injuries. The secret is to play your strength. Sania use the wrong tactics against mitani.

In some kind, this is also correct.. In other way, mitani came with different strategy to play against saina not like as if she played against saina in Denmark open. Have you seen mitani playing.. she never believed in mid court game.. She always went on to push the shuttle to the back court and whenever time comes, she gave a smash to finish the rally. We have to really appreciate Mitani.. I think she is 21 years of age, one year lesser than saina.. She started earning her titles.. I wonder how sweet her voice would be.. :-) Her voice is one of the sweetest voice that i have ever heard.. Whenever she says '' YEAH", it melts.. Hee hee..

[Cheung]

Put it simply, Saina fell into the same trap the Thai MD pair fell to when playing Malaysian and Korean opposition.

Explosive power was used for almost the entire duration of the first game - most of which were returned back by way of fast attacking clears that kept Saina away from the net. By midgame of the 2nd - she had already felt the pace.

But she will get smarter next time, just need to remember to move the opponent the way she moved Juliane Schenk, before applying full power.

I'm not convinced Saina fell into a trap.

Looking at the reports (I didn't see the match), probably Saina tried to finish early by being aggressive also hoping Mitani would be nervous from lack of experience. With Saina not being at full fitness, this would also lead me to think Saina trying to kill the shuttle earlier and avoid prolonged rallies.

[cobalt]

Was Saina's approach to MM the same as at the Denmark Open against her? I'd be very surprised if it were.

[scorpion1]

Was Saina's approach to MM the same as at the Denmark Open against her? I'd be very surprised if it were.

No... I have watched saina's match against mitani.. It was totally different.. Saina's near flawless game gave her victory at that time.. And also, Right from retrieving the shuttle to moving across the court were excellent at that time.. But this time, she miss many smashes out of the line and lost many net dribble points as well. Mintani's game plan is punch clear.. Making the opponent run to the back court and waiting for the right opportunity to kill the shuttle at the right place.. She was extraordinary yesterday.. Her retrieving capacity was like Lee chong wei.. She fell down many times ,In no time she got up and ran over the court to retrieve the shuttle again and won the rally.. She was like paper.. flowing freely in air.. I wonder what boosters she will have to do this..

[cobalt]

Well, then it's clear that the wrong strategy/tactics were used this time around. The DO courts were playing much slower, giving Saina time to recover ground. She (and her coaches) should have recognised that advantage and created the same condition at the French by slowing down the pace of the rallies, giving more air, and waiting for the openings to punch through.

Instead she tried full-frontal assault! ...and paid the price. MM turned Sainas pace against her, using the force generated by Saina's shots to create winning opportunities from defence. Clever, and executed with extraordinary skill and technique. A masterclass.

[scorpion1]

Well, then it's clear that the wrong strategy/tactics were used this time around. The DO courts were playing much slower, giving Saina time to recover ground. She (and her coaches) should have recognised that advantage and created the same condition at the French by slowing down the pace of the rallies, giving more air, and waiting for the openings to punch through.

Instead she tried full-frontal assault! ...and paid the price. MM turned Sainas pace against her, using the force generated by Saina's shots to create winning opportunities from defence. Clever, and executed with extraordinary skill and technique. A masterclass.

An absolute master piece.. I have seen playing so many top chinese players.. Nobody was this much effective like mitani.. Mitani was extraordinary. She did some mistakes and left the shuttle when she was attacked at her left hand side.. Saina should have made use of it or else atleast coaches should have known that . She used her complete energy believing in smashes.. But it was total flop yesterday.. I fear whether all other players would have known this and would come up with such a tactics against saina in the future.. But i do believe saina will learn soon and come up with counter attack to the tactics played by mitani..

[gopalprasad]

Well, then it's clear that the wrong strategy/tactics were used this time around. The DO courts were playing much slower, giving Saina time to recover ground. She (and her coaches) should have recognised that advantage and created the same condition at the French by slowing down the pace of the rallies, giving more air, and waiting for the openings to punch through.

Instead she tried full-frontal assault! ...and paid the price. MM turned Sainas pace against her, using the force generated by Saina's shots to create winning opportunities from defence. Clever, and executed with extraordinary skill and technique. A masterclass.

Add to this that SN was tired, exhausted with continuous play and wasnt as agile as she was in DO and her smashes were landing a few inches out, those few points let her slip the advantage from 19-16 up to 21-19. Had a couple of unforced errors werent made at this point the match could have been different. But then MM pretty well made SN cover a lot of ground and used her rallys and drop shots efectively. It becomes so easy if you can tire your opponent, push her to backcourt and be ready mid court to place your next shot good strategy... Usually I thought, the shuttle is tossed high at the backcourt when a player is unsure of what to do and wants the other player to make a move first and here I see the counter attacks being more fruitful whoa, the world goes round I must say....

[bad's fan]

congratulations, Minatsu Mitani. what a fight yesterday, and she really deserves the title.

but what is more important thing is that her cute scream/yelling has won my heart! (Ma Jin's too. )

[bad's fan]

And also i have seen her right knee with numerous bandages.. We have to appreciate saina for her great effort with 70% fit.. But mitani is the one who played excellently making use of saina's knee problem..

yeah, there is no doubt SN may be not on her 100% yesterday. but hope this won't take away any credit from MM's playings and win.

but Saina smile on podium, regardless her runner-up position. nice!